Methods for controlling a system in a vehicle using a transmitting/receiving transducer and/or while compensating for thermal gradients

ABSTRACT

Methods for controlling a vehicle system in which waves are directed from a transducer into the passenger compartment and is reflected off or modified by an object in the passenger compartment and received by the same or a different transducer. One or more techniques are used to compensate for thermal gradients in the passenger compartment and/or enable the use of a single transducer to send and receive waves, for example, a tubular mounting structure for the transducers, electronic reduction of ringing of the transducer, mechanical damping of the transducer cone, shaped horns, grills and reflectors for the output of the transducers to precisely control the beam pattern, a logarithmic compression amplifier, a temperature compensation method based on change in transducer properties with temperature and/or a dual level network, one level for categorization and the second for occupant position sensing.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/827,961 filed Apr. 6, 2001 which is acontinuation of U.S patent application Ser. No. 09/328,566 filed Jun. 9,1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,946, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C.§119(e) of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/088,386 filedJun. 9, 1998.

[0002] This application is related to: (i) U.S. patent application Ser.No. 08/505,036 entitled “Vehicle Occupant Position And Velocity Sensor”filed Jul. 21, 1995 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,462), which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/040,978 filed Mar.31, 1993, now abandoned, which in turn is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 07/878,571 filed May 5, 1992, now abandoned; (ii)U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/239,978 entitled “Vehicle InteriorIdentification and Monitoring System” filed May 9, 1994 (now U.S. Pat.No. 5,829,782); (iii) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/474,786entitled “Optical Identification and Monitoring System Using PatternRecognition for use with Vehicles” filed Jun. 7, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No.5,845,000; (iv) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/474,783 entitled“Automatic Vehicle Seat Adjuster” filed Jun. 7, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No.5,822,707; (v) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/474,784 entitled“Automatic Vehicle Seat Adjuster” filed Jun. 7, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No.5,748,473; (vi) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/474,782 entitled“Optical Identification and Monitoring System Using Pattern Recognitionfor Use with Vehicles” filed Jun. 7, 1995 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,613;and, (vii) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/798,029 entitled “Methodof Identifying the Presence and Orientation of an Object in a Vehicle”filed Feb. 6, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,295, which are allincorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present invention relates to the field of sensing, detecting,monitoring and identifying various objects, and parts thereof, which arelocated within the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. Inparticular, the present invention provides improvements to ultrasonictransducers in particular, and electromagnetic transducers to a lesserextent, and systems of such transducers, which improve the speed and/oraccuracy and tend to reduce the cost and complexity of systems and whichare efficient and highly reliable for detecting a particular object suchas a rear facing child seat (RFCS) situated in the passenger compartmentin a location where it may interact with a deploying airbag, or fordetecting an out-of-position occupant. This permits the selectivesuppression of airbag deployment when the deployment may result ingreater injury to the occupant than the crash forces. In thealternative, it permits the tailoring of the airbag deployment to theparticular occupant and in consideration of the position of theoccupant. This is accomplished in part through (i) the use of a tubularmounting structure for the transducers; (ii) the use of electronicreduction or suppression of transducer ringing; (iii) the use ofmechanical damping of the transducer cone, all three of which permitsthe use of a single transducer for both sending and receiving; (iv) theuse of multiple frequencies thereby permitting the simultaneoustransmission of all transducers thereby reducing the time and increasingthe accuracy of dynamic occupant position measurements; (v) the use ofshaped horns, grills and reflectors for the output of the transducers toprecisely control the beam pattern and thereby minimizing false echoes;(vi) the use of a logarithmic compression amplifier to minimize theeffects of thermal gradients in the vehicle; (vii) the use of a methodof temperature compensation based on the change in transducer propertieswith temperature; and/or (viii) the use of a dual level network, onelevel for categorization and the second for occupant position sensing,to improve the accuracy of categorization and the speed of positionmeasurement for dynamic out-of-position. The foregoing can be usedindividually or in combination with another.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In 1984, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a requirementfor frontal crash protection of automobile occupants. This regulationmandated “passive occupant restraints” for all passenger cars by 1992. Amore recent regulation requires both driver and passenger side airbagson all passenger cars and light trucks by 1998. In addition, the demandfor airbags is accelerating in both Europe and Japan and it is expectedthat, now virtually all vehicles produced in these areas (36 millionvehicles) are equipped and eventually worldwide (50 million vehicles)will be equipped with airbags as standard equipment.

[0005] Whereas thousands of lives have been saved by airbags,significant improvements can be made. As discussed in detail in U.S.Pat. No. 5,653,462 referenced above, and included herein by reference,for a variety of reasons, vehicle occupants can be or get too close tothe airbag before it deploys and can be seriously injured or killed bythe deployment of the airbag.

[0006] Also, a child in a rear facing child seat, which is placed on theright front passenger seat, is in danger of being seriously injured ifthe passenger airbag deploys. This has now become an industry-wideconcern and the US automobile industry is urgently searching for aneasy, economical solution, which will prevent the deployment of thepassenger side airbag if a rear facing child seat is present. Animprovement on the invention disclosed in the above-referenced patentapplication, as will be disclosed in greater detail below, includes moresophisticated means to identify objects within the passenger compartmentand will solve this problem.

[0007] Initially, these systems will solve the out-of-position occupantand the rear facing child seat problems related to current airbagsystems and prevent unneeded deployments when a seat is unoccupied.Airbags are now under development to protect rear seat occupants infrontal and side vehicle crashes. A system will therefore be needed todetect the presence and position of occupants, to determine if they areout-of-position, and type to identify the presence of a rear facingchild seat in the rear seat, for example. Future automobiles can beexpected to have eight or more airbags as protection is sought for rearseat occupants and from side impacts. In addition to eliminating thedisturbance of unnecessary airbag deployments, the cost of replacingthese airbags will be excessive if they all deploy in an accident. Theimprovements described below minimize this cost by not deploying anairbag for a seat that is not occupied by a human being. An occupyingitem of a seat may be a living occupant such as a human being or dog,another living organism such as a plant, or an inanimate object such asa box or bag of groceries.

[0008] A device to monitor the vehicle interior and identify itscontents is needed to solve these and many other problems. For example,once a Vehicle Interior Identification and Monitoring System (VIMS) foridentifying and monitoring the contents of a vehicle is in place, manyother products become possible including the following:

[0009] 1. Inflators now exist which will adjust the amount of gasflowing to the airbag to account for the size and position of theoccupant and for the severity of the accident. The vehicleidentification and monitoring system of this invention will control suchinflators based on the presence and position of vehicle occupants or ofa rear facing child seat.

[0010] 2. Side impact airbag systems began appearing on 1995 vehicles.The danger of deployment induced injuries exist for side impact airbagsas they now do for frontal impact airbags. A child with his head againstthe airbag is such an example. The system of this invention willminimize such injuries.

[0011] 3. Future vehicles may be provided with a standard cellular phoneas well as the Global Positioning System (GPS), an automobile navigationor location system, which is now available on several vehicle models. Inthe event of an accident, the phone may automatically call 911 foremergency assistance and report the exact position of the vehicle. Ifthe vehicle also has a system as described below for monitoring eachseat location, the number and perhaps the condition of the occupantscould also be reported. In that way, the emergency service (EMS) wouldknow what equipment and how many ambulances to send to the accidentsite.

[0012] 4. Vehicle entertainment system engineers have stated that thequality of the sound in the vehicle could be improved if the number,size and location of occupants and other objects were known. Thisinformation can be provided by the vehicle interior identification andmonitoring system of this invention.

[0013] 5. Similarly to the entertainment system, the heating,ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC) could be improved if thenumber, attributes and location of vehicle occupants were known. Thiscan be used to provide a climate control system tailored to eachoccupant, for example, or the system can be turned off for certain seatlocations if there are no occupants present at those locations.

[0014] 6. In some cases, the position of a particular part of theoccupant is of interest such as: (a) the occupant's hand or arm andwhether it is in the path of a closing window so that the motion of thewindow needs to be stopped; (b) the position of the occupant's shoulderso that the seat belt anchorage point can be adjusted for the bestprotection of the occupant; or, (c) the position of the rear of theoccupant's head so that the headrest can be adjusted to minimizewhiplash injuries in rear impacts.

[0015] The above applications illustrate the wide range of opportunitiesthat become available if the identity and location of various objectsand occupants, and some of their parts, within the vehicle were known.Once the system is operational, it would be logical for the system toalso incorporate the airbag electronic sensor and diagnostics module(SDM) since it needs to interface with SDM anyway and since the twoelectronic circuits could share computer capabilities resulting in asignificant cost saving to the auto manufacturer. For the same reasons,it would be logical for VIMS to include the side impact sensor anddiagnostic system since occupant sensing systems can also be used withside airbags.

[0016] As the VIMS improves to where the exact location of the occupantsears and eyes can be determined, even more significant improvements tothe entertainment system become possible through the use of noisecanceling sound, and the rear view mirror can be automatically adjustedfor the driver's eye location. Another example involves the monitoringof the driver's behavior over time which can be used to warn a driver ifhe or she is falling asleep, or to stop the vehicle if the driver losesthe capacity to control it.

[0017] Using an advanced VIMS, as explained below, the position of thedriver's eyes can be accurately determined and portions of thewindshield can be selectively darkened to eliminate the glare from thesun or oncoming vehicle headlights. This system uses electro-chromicglass, a liquid crystal system, or other appropriate technology, anddetectors to detect the direction of the offending light source. Inaddition to eliminating the glare, the sun visor can now also beeliminated.

[0018] 1. Prior Art on Apparatus for Sensing Out-of-Position Occupantsand Rear Facing Child Seats

[0019] Whereas thousands of lives have been saved by airbags, a largenumber of people have also been injured, and almost 150 people have nowbeen killed, by the deploying airbag, and thus significant improvementsneed to be made to eliminate these deaths and injuries. As discussed indetail in one or more of the patents and patent applicationscross-referenced above, for a variety of reasons vehicle occupants maybe too close to the airbag before it deploys, or, if unbelted, may bethrown there by the crash dynamics and can be seriously injured orkilled as a result of the airbag deployment. Also, a child in a rearfacing child seat which is placed on the right front passenger seat isin danger of being seriously injured if the passenger airbag deploys.For these reasons and, as first publicly disclosed in Breed, D. S. “HowAirbags Work” presented at the International Conference on Seatbelts andAirbags, in 1993, in Canada, occupant position sensing and rear facingchild seat detection is required in order to minimize the damages causedby deploying airbags.

[0020] Inflators now exist which have the capability of adjusting theamount of gas flowing into the airbag to account for the size andposition of the occupant and for the severity of the accident andthereby adapt the deployment of the airbag to the occupant and accident.The vehicle identification and monitoring system (VIMS) discussed inU.S. Pat. No. 5,829,782, among others, can control such inflators basedon the presence and position of vehicle occupants or of a rear facingchild seat. The instant invention is an improvement on that VIMS systemand uses an advanced ultrasonic system comprising two or more ultrasonictransmitters/receivers combined with a trained neural network orneural-fuzzy pattern recognition system as discussed in much greaterdetail below.

[0021] The automatic adjustment of the deployment rate of the airbagbased on occupant identification and position and on crash severity hasbeen termed “smart airbags”. Central to the development of smart airbagsis the occupant-identification and position system described herein.Such smart airbag systems are described in more detail in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/865,525 entitled “Smart Airbag System” filed May29, 1997 which is also included herein by reference. To complete thedevelopment, an anticipatory crash detecting system such as disclosed inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/247,760 filed May 23, 1994 isdesirable. Prior to the implementation of anticipatory crash sensing,the use of a neural network smart crash sensor which identifies the typeof crash and thus its severity based on the early part of the crashacceleration signature should be developed and thereafter implemented.U.S. Pat. No. 5,684,701 to Breed, describes a crash sensor based onneural networks. This crash sensor, as with all other crash sensors,determines whether or not the crash is of sufficient severity to requiredeployment of the airbag and, if so, initiates the deployment. A neuralnetwork based on a smart airbag crash sensor can also be designed toidentify the crash and categorize it with regard to severity thuspermitting the airbag deployment to be matched not only to thecharacteristics and position of the occupant but also the severity andtiming of the crash itself, as more fully described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/247,760.

[0022] Significant improvements were made to the art in co- U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/798,029 referenced above which describes themethod of placement of the transducers to increase the reliability ofdetecting and discriminating out-of-position occupants, empty seats, andrear facing child-seats. In order to detect occupants that are veryclose to the transducer in that invention, separate transducers are usedfor sending and receiving the ultrasonic waves. Also, although thatsystem is capable of detecting out-of-position occupants for most realworld cases, in situations where the crash sensor fails to trigger ortriggers very late in a high speed crash, the system based onalternately transmitting and receiving from each location can require asmuch as 50 milliseconds to determine the location of an occupant whichcan be too slow. The use of one or two transducers for ranging duringthe crash, giving 10 or 20 millisecond response time, works in mostcases but can be defeated if the chosen transducer is blocked by anewspaper, for example. Finally, the wide beam patterns of thetransducers used in that system sometimes results in false decisionswhen an occupant of the rear seat is leaning forward, for example, andthe system interprets that as an in position forward facing person eventhought in fact it may be a rear facing child seat.

[0023] Others have also observed the need for an occupantout-of-position sensor and several methods have been disclosed incertain U.S. patents for determining the position of an occupant of amotor vehicle. Some of these systems will be discussed below andunfortunately have significant limitations.

[0024] In White et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,160), for example, a singleacoustic sensor and detector is described and, as illustrated, ismounted lower than the steering wheel. White et al. correctly perceivethat such a sensor could be defeated, and the airbag falsely deployed,by an occupant adjusting the control knobs on the radio and thus theysuggest the use of a plurality of such sensors but do not disclose wherethey would be mounted, other than on the instrument panel below thesteering wheel, or how they would be combined to uniquely monitorparticular locations in the passenger compartment and to identify whatis occupying those locations.

[0025] Mattes et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,134) describe a variety ofmethods of measuring the change in position of an occupant includingultrasonic, active or passive infrared and microwave radar sensors, andan electric eye. Their use of these sensors is to measure the change inposition of an occupant during a crash and use that information toassess the severity of the crash and thereby decide whether or not todeploy the airbag. They are thus using the occupant motion as a crashsensor. No mention is made of determining the out-of-position status ofthe occupant or of any of the other features of occupant monitoring asdisclosed in the above cross-referenced patent applications. It isinteresting to note that nowhere does Mattes et al. discuss how to use acombination of ultrasonic sensors/transmitters to identify the presenceof a human occupant and then to find his/her location in the passengercompartment.

[0026] The object of an occupant out-of-position sensor is to determinethe location of the head and/or chest of the vehicle occupant relativeto the airbag since it is the impact of either the head or chest withthe deploying airbag which can result in serious injuries. Both White etal. and Mattes et al. disclose only lower mounting locations of theirsensors that are mounted in front of the occupant such as on thedashboard or below the steering wheel. Both such mounting locations areparticularly prone to detection errors due to positioning of theoccupant's hands, arms and legs. This would require at least three, andpreferably more, such sensors and detectors and an appropriate logiccircuitry which ignores readings from some sensors if such readings areinconsistent with others, for the case, for example, where the driver'sarms are the closest objects to two of the sensors.

[0027] White et al. also describe the use of error correction circuitry,without defining or illustrating the circuitry, to differentiate betweenthe velocity of one of the occupant's hands, as in the case where he/sheis adjusting the knob on the radio, and the remainder of the occupant.Three ultrasonic sensors of the type disclosed by White et al. might, insome cases, accomplish this differentiation if two of them indicatedthat the occupant was not moving while the third was indicating that heor she was moving. Such a combination, however, is not disclosed inWhite and would not differentiate between an occupant with both handsand arms in the path of the ultrasonic transmitter at such a locationthat they were blocking a substantial view of the occupant's head orchest. Since the sizes and driving positions of occupants are extremelyvaried, trained pattern recognition systems, such as neural networks,are required when a clear view of the occupant, unimpeded by his/herextremities, cannot be guaranteed. White et al. does not suggest the useof such neural networks.

[0028] Fujita et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,583, describe anothermethod of determining the position of the occupant but do not use thisinformation to suppress deployment if the occupant is out-of-position,or if a rear facing child seat is present. In fact, the closer that theoccupant gets to the airbag the faster the inflation rate of the airbagis according to the Fujita patent, which thereby increases thepossibility of injuring the occupant. Fujita et al. do not measure theoccupant directly but instead determine his or her position indirectlyfrom measurements of the seat position and the vertical size of theoccupant relative to the seat. This occupant height is determined usingan ultrasonic displacement sensor mounted directly above the occupant'shead.

[0029] Finally, Corrado et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,314 describe amethod of determining the location of an occupant based on the “fusion”of the information from an ultrasonic and a passive infrared sensor. Thepassive infrared sensor can be easily fooled by: (i) an occupant holdinga cup of coffee near to where a rear facing child seat would be located;(ii) an increase in the ambient temperature to above body temperature;(iii) the use of a blanket to cover the occupant of a rear facing childseat; (iv) or by any other method by which the sensor is blocked such asby a newspaper or map. The ultrasonic sensor is used only in a rangingmode and therefore can only measure the distance to the closest objectwhich may by a newspaper or balloon or the occupant's hat or hand. Sinceboth sensor systems are easily fooled the combination is alsounreliable. Nowhere in the patent does it answer the question of whichsensor to believe if one says one thing and the other something else.

[0030] It is important to note that in all cases in the prior art,except those assigned to the current assignee of the instant invention,where ultrasonic sensors are used to determine displacement, only theinitial return of reflected waves is used so that only the distance tothe closest part of the object can be determined. In contrast, in theinstant invention, the return echo pattern over several millisecondscorresponding to the entire portion of the passenger compartment volumeof interest is analyzed providing distance information to many points onthe items occupying the passenger compartment.

[0031] 2. Definitions

[0032] The use of pattern recognition is central to the instantinvention as well as those cross-referenced patent applications above,although the improvements disclosed herein may also be used in othersystems and therefore this invention is not limited to systems usingpattern recognition. Nowhere in the prior art, except in that assignedto the current assignee of the instant invention, is pattern recognitionwhich is based on training, as exemplified through the use of neuralnetworks, mentioned for use in monitoring the interior passengercompartment or exterior environments of the vehicle.

[0033] “Pattern recognition” as used herein will mean any system whichprocesses one or more signals that are generated by an object , e.g.,representative of a pattern of returned or received impulses, waves orother physical property specific to and/or characteristic of and/orrepresentative of that object, or is modified by interacting with anobject, in order to determine to which one of a set of classes that theobject belongs. Such a system might determine only that the object is oris not a member of one specified class, or it might attempt to assignthe object to one of a larger set of specified classes, or find that itis not a member of any of the classes in the set. The signals processedgenerally include a series of electrical signals coming from transducersthat are sensitive to acoustic (ultrasonic) or electromagneticradiation.

[0034] A trainable or a trained pattern recognition system as usedherein means a pattern recognition system which is taught to recognizevarious patterns constituted within the signals by subjecting the systemto a variety of examples. The most successful such system is the neuralnetwork or neural fuzzy system. Thus, to generate the patternrecognition algorithm, test data is first obtained which constitutes aplurality of sets of returned waves, or wave patterns and otherinformation from weight, seat position sensors etc., from an object andan indication of the identify of that object, i.e., a number ofdifferent objects are tested to obtain the unique patterns in the datafrom each object. As such, the algorithm is generated, and stored in acomputer processor, which is later applied to provide the identity of anobject based on the patterns in the data being received during use by awave receiver and other transducers connected to the processor. For thepurposes, the identity of an object sometimes applies to not only theobject itself but also to its location in the passenger compartment. Forexample, a rear facing child seat is a different object than a forwardfacing child seat and an out-of-position adult is a different objectthan a normally seated adult.

[0035] To “identify” as used herein will mean to determine that theobject belongs to a particular set or class. The class may be onecontaining, for example, all rear facing child seats, one containing allhuman occupants, or all human occupants not sitting in a rear facingchild seat depending on the purpose of the system. In the case where aparticular person is to be recognized, the set or class will containonly a single element, i.e., the person to be recognized.

[0036] An “occupying item” of a seat may be a living occupant such as ahuman being or a dog, another living organism such as a plant, or aninanimate object such as a box or bag of groceries.

[0037] “Out-of-position” as used for an occupant means that theoccupant, either driver or passenger, is sufficiently close to theairbag prior to deployment that he or she is likely to be more seriouslyinjured by the deployment event itself than by the accident. Thistypically occurs when the occupant's head or chest is closer than somedistance such as about 5 inches from the deployment door of the airbagmodule. The actual distance value where airbag deployment should besuppressed depends on the design of the airbag module and is typicallyfurther for the passenger airbag than for the driver airbag.

[0038] “Dynamic out-of-position” refers to the situation where a vehicleoccupant, either driver or passenger, is in position at a point in timeprior to an accident but becomes out-of-position, (that is, too close tothe airbag module so that he or she could be injured or killed by thedeployment of the airbag,) prior to the deployment of the airbag due topre-crash braking or other action which causes the vehicle to decelerateprior to a crash.

[0039] “Transducer” as used herein in conjunction with ultrasonics orelectromagnetics will in general mean the combination of a transmitterand a receiver. In some cases, the same device will serve both as thetransmitter and receiver while in others two separate devices adjacentto each other will be used. In the instant invention, a singletransducer will in general be used for both sending and receiving at aparticular location.

[0040] “Thermal instability” or “thermal gradients” refers to thesituation where a change in air density causes a change in the path ofultrasonic waves from what the path would be in the absence of thedensity change. This density change ordinarily occurs due to a change inthe temperature of a portion of the air through which the ultrasonicwaves travel. The high speed flow of air (wind) through the passengercompartment can cause a similar effect. Thermal instability is generallycaused by the sun beating down on the top of a closed vehicle(“long-term thermal instability”) of through the operation of the heateror air conditioner (“short-term thermal instability”). Of course otherheat sources can cause a similar effect and thus the term as used hereinis not limited to the examples provided.

[0041] In the description herein on anticipatory sensing, the term“approaching” when used in connection with the mention of an object orvehicle approaching another will mean the relative motion of the objecttoward the vehicle having the anticipatory sensor system. Thus, in aside impact with a tree, the tree will be considered as approaching theside of the vehicle and impacting the vehicle. In other words, thecoordinate system used in general will be a coordinate system residingin the target vehicle. The “target” vehicle is the vehicle which isbeing impacted. This convention permits a general description to coverall of the cases such as where (i) a moving vehicle impacts into theside of a stationary vehicle, (ii) where both vehicles are moving whenthey impact, or (iii) where a vehicle is moving sideways into astationary vehicle, tree or wall.

[0042] 3. Pattern Recognition Prior Art

[0043] Japanese patent 3-42337 (A) to Ueno discloses a device fordetecting the driving condition of a vehicle driver comprising a lightemitter for irradiating the face of the driver and a means for pickingup the image of the driver and storing it for later analysis. Means areprovided for locating the eyes of the driver and then the irises of theeyes and then determining if the driver is looking to the side orsleeping. Ueno determines the state of the eyes of the occupant ratherthan determining the location of the eyes relative to the other parts ofthe vehicle passenger compartment. Such a system can be defeated if thedriver is wearing glasses, particularly sunglasses, or another opticaldevice which obstructs a clear view of his/her eyes. Pattern recognitiontechnologies such as neural networks are not used.

[0044] U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,946 to Ando uses a complicated set of rulesto isolate the eyes and mouth of a driver and uses this information topermit the driver to control the radio, for example, or other systemswithin the vehicle by moving his eyes and/or mouth. Ando uses naturallight and illuminates only the head of the driver. He also makes no useof trainable pattern recognition systems such as neural networks, nor isthere any attempt to identify the contents neither of the vehicle nor oftheir location relative to the vehicle passenger compartment. Rather,Ando is limited to control of vehicle devices by responding to motion ofthe driver's mouth and eyes.

[0045] U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,732 to Chen also concentrates in locating theeyes of the driver so as to position a light filter between a lightsource such as the sun or the lights of an oncoming vehicle, and thedriver's eyes. Chen does not explain in detail how the eyes are locatedbut does supply a calibration system whereby the driver can adjust thefilter so that it is at the proper position relative to his or her eyes.Chen references the use of an automatic equipment for determining thelocation of the eyes but does not describe how this equipment works. Inany event, there is no mention of monitoring the position of theoccupant, other that the eyes, of determining the position of the eyesrelative to the passenger compartment, or of identifying any otherobject in the vehicle other than the driver's eyes. Also, there is nomention of the use of a trainable pattern recognition system.

[0046] U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,012 to Faris also describes a system forreducing the glare from the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. Farislocates the eyes of the occupant by the use of two spaced apart infraredcameras using passive infrared radiation from the eyes of the driver.Again, Faris is only interested in locating the driver's eyes relativeto the sun or oncoming headlights and does not identify or monitor theoccupant or locate the occupant, a rear facing child seat or any otherobject for that matter, relative to the passenger compartment or theairbag. Also, Faris does not use trainable pattern recognitiontechniques such as neural networks. Faris, in fact, does not even sayhow the eyes of the occupant are located but refers the reader to a bookentitled Robot Vision (1991) by Berthold Horn, published by MIT Press,Cambridge, Mass. Also, Faris uses the passive infrared radiation ratherthan illuminating the occupant with ultrasonic radiation as in theinstant invention.

[0047] The use of neural networks or neural-fuzzy systems as the patternrecognition technology is central to occupant sensing since it makes themonitoring system robust, reliable and practical. The resultingalgorithm created by the neural network program is usually only a fewdozen to a hundred or so lines of code written in the C computerlanguage as opposed to typically several hundred or more of lines whenthe techniques of the above patents to Ando, Chen and Faris areimplemented. As a result, the resulting systems are easy to implement ata low cost making them practical for automotive applications. The costof the ultrasonic transducers, for example, is expected to be less thanabout $1 in automotive quantities. Similarly, the implementation of thetechniques of the above referenced patents requires expensivemicroprocessors while the implementation with neural networks andsimilar trainable pattern recognition technologies permits the use oflow cost microprocessors typically costing less than about $5 inautomotive quantities of approximately 1,000,000 units per year or more.

[0048] The present invention uses sophisticated trainable patternrecognition capabilities such as neural networks. Usually the data ispreprocessed, as discussed below, using various feature extraction,filtering, pruning and other mathematical techniques. A non-automotiveexample of such a pattern recognition system using neural networks onsonar signals is discussed in two papers by Gorman, R. P. and Sejnowski,T. J. “Analysis of Hidden Units in a Layered Network Trained to ClassifySonar Targets”, Neural Networks, Vol. 1. pp. 75-89, 1988, and “LearnedClassification of Sonar Targets Using a Massively Parallel Network”,IEEE Transactions on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, Vol. 36,No. 7, July 1988. Examples of feature extraction techniques can be foundin U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,940 entitled “Process and Apparatus for theAutomatic Detection and Extraction of Features in Images and Displays”to Green et al. Examples of other more advanced and efficient patternrecognition techniques can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,136 entitled“Artificial Neuron and Method of Using Same and U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 08/076,601 entitled “Neural Network and Method of Using Same”to Wang, S. T. Other examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,235,339 (Morrisonet al.), 5,214,744 (Schweizer et al), 5,181,254 (Schweizer et al), and4,881,270 (Knecht et al). All of the above references are includedherein by reference.

[0049] 4. Ultrasonics

[0050] Ultrasonics can be used in several configurations for monitoringthe interior of a passenger compartment of an automobile as described inthe cross referenced patents and patent applications. In one knownsystem, for example, two ultrasonic sensors are placed on the A-pillarand in another system, a third sensor is additionally placed in theheadliner. It has been found in both of these cases that even though theproper identification is made in a high percentage of the cases, thereare still a small but significant number of cases where an error indiagnosis is made based on the information received from the sensors.These systems, although a significant improvement over the other priorart, still fail to achieve the very high reliability desired by theautomobile manufacturers. This shortcoming was substantially solved inSer. No. 08/798,029 cross referenced above.

[0051] In the cases of the instant invention, and that of Ser. No.08/798,029, as will discussed in more detail below, regardless of thenumber of transducers used, a trained pattern recognition system, asdefined above, is used to identify and classify, and in some cases tolocate, the illumninated object and its constituent parts. Thisinvention is particularly directed toward improving the invention ofSer. No. 08/798,029 by decreasing the sensing time, reducing the cost,improving the system response to objects which are near to thetransducer mounting, and improving the ability of the system tocompensate for thermal gradients and variations in the speed of sound.

[0052] 5. Applications

[0053] The applications for this technology are numerous as described inone or more of the patent applications listed above. However, the mainfocus of the instant invention is for the detection of the presence of achild seat in the rear facing position or an out-of-position occupantand the detection of an occupant in a normal seating position. In theformer two cases, deployment of the airbag will be suppressed and in thelatter, it will be enabled.

[0054] Some examples of alternative VIMS systems follow:

[0055] In a passive infrared system one or more detectors receiveinfrared radiation from an object in their fields of view, in this casethe vehicle occupant, and determines the temperature of the occupantbased on the infrared radiation. The VIMS can then respond to thetemperature of the occupant, which can either be a child in a rearfacing child seat or a normally seated occupant, to control some othersystem. his technology could provide input data to a pattern recognitionsystem but it has limitations related to temperature. The sensing of thechild could pose a problem if the child is covered with blankets. Italso might not be possible to differentiate between a rear facing childseat and a forward facing child seat. In all cases, the technology willfail to detect the occupant if the ambient temperature reaches bodytemperature as it does in hot climates. Nevertheless, for use in thecontrol of the vehicle climate, for example, a passive infrared systemthat permits an accurate measurement of each occupant's temperature isuseful.

[0056] In an optical system an infrared radiation source, frequently alight emitting diode or other laser, is used to momentarily illuminatean object, occupant or child seat in the manner as described, andillustrated in FIG. 8, of U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,462 referenced above. Insome cases, a charge-coupled device (a type of TV camera also referredto as a CCD array) or a CMOS device is used to receive the reflectedlight. If a laser is used as the infrared light source, it can either beused in a scanning mode, or, through the use of a lens, a cone of lightcan be created which covers a large portion of the object. In each case,a pattern recognition system, as defined above, is used to identify andclassify, and can be used to locate, the illuminated object and itsconstituent parts. This system provides the most information about theobject and at a rapid data rate. Its main drawback is cost which isconsiderably above that of ultrasonic or passive infrared systems. Asthe cost of infrared light sources and detectors is coming down, thissystem is now becoming more competitive. Depending on the implementationof the system, there may be some concern for the safety of the occupantif the laser light can enter the occupant's eyes.

[0057] Radar systems have similar properties to the infrared systemdiscussed above. The wavelength of a particular radar system can limitthe ability of the pattern recognition system to detect object featuressmaller than a certain size. Once again, however, there is some concernabout the health effects of radar on children and other occupants. Thisconcern is expressed in various reports available from the United StatesFood and Drug Administration Division of Devices.

[0058] The ultrasonic system, which is the primary focus of thisinvention, is the least expensive and potentially provides lessinformation than the infrared or radar systems due to the delaysresulting from the speed of sound and due to the wave length which isconsiderably longer than the infrared systems. The wavelength limits thedetail, which can be seen by the system. Additionally, ultrasonic wavesare sometimes strongly affected by thermal gradients within the vehiclesuch as caused by flowing air from the heater or air conditioner or ascaused by the sun heating the top of the vehicle resulting in the upperpart of the passenger compartment having a higher temperature than thelower part. Thermal gradients cause density changes in the air, whichdiffract the ultrasonic signal sending in a direction away from anobject or the transducer. Although this effect has been reported in theliterature no solution has been proposed prior to the present invention.

[0059] In spite of these limitations, as shown below, ultrasonics canprovide sufficient timely information to permit the position andvelocity of an occupant to be accurately known and, when used with anappropriate pattern recognition system, it is capable of positivelydetermining the presence of a rear facing child seat, for example. Onepattern recognition system which has been used to identify a rear facingchild seat, empty seat, out-of-position occupant, etc., uses neuralnetworks and is similar to that described in the above referenced papersby Gorman et al. Alternately, a neural-fuzzy system is now showing somepromise of higher accuracy than the pure neural network system. Oneproblem with pure neural network systems is that although the system isquite good at interpolating between vehicle passenger compartmentoccupancy configurations which it has been trained on, it sometimes doespoorly when confronted with a totally new configuration. Neural-fuzzysystems have demonstrated the ability to better handle these situations.

[0060] A focusing system, such as used on some camera systems, could beused to determine the initial position of an occupant but is too slow tomonitor his position during a crash. This is a result of the mechanicalmotions required to operate the lens focusing system. By itself itcannot determine the presence of a rear facing child seat or of anoccupant but when used with a charge-coupled device, or CMOS array, plussome infrared illumination for night vision, and an appropriate patternrecognition system, this becomes possible.

[0061] From the above discussion, it can be seen that the addition ofsophisticated pattern recognition means to any of the standardillumination and/or reception technologies for use in a motor vehiclepermits the development of a host of new products, systems orcapabilities heretofore not available as described in more detail below.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF TILE INVENTION

[0062] This invention provides improvements to a system to sense thepresence, position and type of an occupant in a passenger compartment ofa motor vehicle in the presence of thermal gradients and moreparticularly, to identify and monitor occupants and their parts andother objects in the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, such asan automobile or truck, by processing one or more signals received fromthe occupants and their parts and other objects using one or more of avariety of pattern recognition techniques and ultrasonic illuminationtechnologies. The received signals are generally reflections of atransmitted signal. Information obtained by the identification andmonitoring system is then used to affect the operation of some othersystem in the vehicle.

[0063] The principle objects and advantages include all those of thepatents and patent-applications cross-referenced above including:

[0064] 1. To enable the presence, position and type of occupying item ina passenger compartment to be detected even with the presence of thermalgradients.

[0065] 2. To recognize the presence of a human on a particular seat of amotor vehicle and to use this information to affect the operation ofanother vehicle system such as the airbag system, heating and airconditioning system, or entertainment system, among others.

[0066] 3. To recognize the presence of a human on a particular seat of amotor vehicle and then to determine his/her position and to use thisposition information to affect the operation of another vehicle system.

[0067] 4. To recognize the presence of a human on a particular seat of amotor vehicle and then to determine his/her velocity relative to thepassenger compartment and to use this velocity information to affect theoperation of another vehicle system.

[0068] 5. To determine the position of a seat in the vehicle usingsensors remote from the seat and to use that information in conjunctionwith a memory system and appropriate actuators to position the seat to apredetermined location.

[0069] 6. To determine the position, velocity or size of an occupant ina motor vehicle and to utilize this information to control the rate ofgas generation, or the amount of gas generated, by an airbag inflatorsystem or to control the amount of gas flowing into or out of theairbag.

[0070] 7. To determine the fact that an occupant is not restrained by aseatbelt and therefore to modify the characteristics of the airbagsystem.

[0071] 8. To determine the presence or position of rear seated occupantsin the vehicle and to use this information to affect the operation of arear seat protection airbag for frontal impacts.

[0072] 9. To determine the presence or position of occupants relative tothe side impact airbag systems and to use this information to affect theoperation of a side impact protection airbag system.

[0073] 10. To determine the presence of an occupant's hand or otherobject in the path of a closing window and to affect the window closingsystem.

[0074] 11. To determine the position of the shoulder of a vehicleoccupant and to use that information to control the seatbelt anchoragepoint.

[0075] 12. To determine the position of the rear of an occupant's headand to use that information to control the position of the headrest.

[0076] 13. To recognize the presence of a rear facing child seat on aparticular seat of a motor vehicle and to use this information to affectthe operation of another vehicle system such as the airbag system.

[0077] 14. To determine the total number of occupants of a vehicle andin the event of an accident to transmit that information, as well asother information such as the condition of the occupants, to a receiverremote from the vehicle.

[0078] 15. To affect the vehicle entertainment system based on adetermination of the size or location of various occupants or otherobjects within the vehicle passenger compartment.

[0079] 16. To affect the vehicle heating, ventilation and airconditioning system based on a determination of the number, size andlocation of various occupants or other objects within the vehiclepassenger compartment.

[0080] 17. To provide a vehicle interior monitoring system fordetermining the location of occupants within the vehicle and to includewithin the same system various electronics for controlling an airbagsystem.

[0081] 18. To determine the approximate location of the eyes of a driverand to use that information to control the position of the rear viewmirrors of the vehicle.

[0082] 19. To monitor the position of the head of the vehicle driver anddetermine whether the driver is falling asleep or otherwise impaired andlikely to lose control of the vehicle and to use that information toaffect another vehicle system.

[0083] 20. To determine the location of the eyes of a vehicle occupantand the direction of a light source such as the headlights of anoncoming vehicle or the sun and to cause a filter to be placed in such amanner as to reduce the intensity of the light striking the eyes of theoccupant.

[0084] 21. To determine the location of the eyes of a vehicle occupantand the direction of a light source such as the headlights of a rearapproaching vehicle or the sun and to cause a filter to be placed insuch a manner as to reduce the intensity of the light reflected from therear view mirrors and striking the eyes of the occupant.

[0085] 22. To determine the location of the ears of a vehicle occupantand to use that information to control the entertainment system so as toimprove the quality of the sound reaching the occupant's ears throughsuch methods as noise canceling sound.

[0086] 23. To recognize a particular driver based on such factors asphysical appearance or other attributes and to use this information tocontrol another vehicle system such as a security system, seatadjustment, or maximum permitted vehicle velocity, among others.

[0087] These and other objects and advantages particular to theimprovements of the instant invention, as further listed below, willbecome apparent from the description of the preferred embodiments of thevehicle interior identification and monitoring system of this inventiondescribed below.

[0088] To achieve one or more of the above objects, a method forgenerating a neural network for determining the position of an object ina vehicle comprises the steps of conducting a plurality of datageneration steps, each data generating step involving placing an objectin the passenger compartment of the vehicle, directing waves into atleast a portion of the passenger compartment in which the object issituated, receiving reflected waves from the object at a receiver,forming a data set of a signal representative of the reflected wavesfrom the object, the distance from the object to the receiver and thetemperature of the passenger compartment between the object and thereceiver and changing the temperature of the air between the object andthe receiver. This sequence of steps is performed for the object atdifferent temperatures between the object and the receiver. A patternrecognition algorithm is generated from the data sets such that uponoperational input of a signal representative of reflected waves from theobject, the algorithm provides an approximation of the distance from theobject to the receiver. The algorithm may be a neural network. The wavesmay be ultrasonic waves or electromagnetic waves or other wavespossessing the required properties for operation of the invention.

[0089] The sequence of steps may also include placing different objectsin the passenger compartment and then performing the sequence of stepsfor the different objects. In this case, the identity of the object isincluded in the data set such that upon operational input of a signalrepresentative of reflected waves from the object, the algorithmprovides an approximation of the identity of the object.

[0090] The sequence of steps may also include placing the differentobjects in different positions in the passenger compartment and thenperforming the sequence of steps for the different objects in thedifferent positions. In this case, the identity and/or position of theobject are included in the data set such that upon operational input ofa signal representative of reflected waves from the object, thealgorithm provides an approximation of the identity and/or position ofthe object.

[0091] The temperature may be changed dynamically by introducing a flowof blowing air at a different temperature than the ambient temperatureof the passenger compartment. The flow of blowing air may be created byoperating a vehicle heater or air conditioner of the vehicle. In thealternative, the temperature of the air may be changed by creating atemperature gradient between a top and a bottom of the passengercompartment.

[0092] Another method for identifying an object in a passengercompartment of a vehicle comprises the steps of mounting a plurality ofwave-emitting and receiving transducers on the vehicle, each transducerbeing arranged to transmit and receive waves at a different frequency,controlling the transducers to simultaneously transmit waves at thedifferent frequencies into the passenger compartment, and identifyingthe object based on the waves received by at least some of thetransducers after being modified by passing through the passengercompartment. The spacing between the frequencies of the wavestransmitted and received by the transducers is determined in order toreduce the possibility of each transducer receiving waves transmitted byanother transducer. The position of the object is determined based onthe waves received by at least some of the transducers after beingmodified by passing through the passenger compartment.

[0093] When ultrasonic transducers are used, in an exemplifyingembodiment, motion of a respective vibrating element of at least onetransducer can be electronically reduced in order to reduce ringing ofthe transducer. Also, at least one transducer may be mounted in arespective tube having an opening through which the waves aretransmitted and received.

[0094] A processor may be coupled to the transducers for controlling thetransducers to simultaneously transmit waves at the differentfrequencies into the passenger compartment and receive signalsrepresentative of the waves received by the transducers after beingmodified by passing through the passenger compartment. The processorwould then identify the object and/or determine the position of theobject based on the signals representative of the waves received by atleast some of the transducers.

[0095] A method for controlling deployment of an occupant restraintdevice based on the position of an object in a passenger compartment ofa vehicle in accordance with the invention comprises the steps ofmounting a plurality of wave-emitting and receiving transducers on thevehicle, each transducer being arranged to transmit and receive waves ata different frequency, controlling the transducers to simultaneouslytransmit waves at the different frequencies into the passengercompartment, determining whether the object is of a type requiringdeployment of the occupant restraint device in the event of a crashinvolving the vehicle based on the waves received by at least some ofthe transducers after being modified by passing through the passengercompartment, and if so, determining whether the position of the objectrelative to the occupant restraint device would cause injury to theobject upon deployment of the occupant restraint device based on thewaves received by at least some of the transducers. The object may alsobe identified based on the waves received by at least some of thetransducers after being modified by passing through the passengercompartment.

[0096] The determination of whether the object is of a type requiringdeployment of the occupant restraint device may involve training a firstneural network on signals from at least some of the transducersrepresentative of waves received by the transducers when differentobjects are situated in the passenger compartment. The determination ofwhether the position of the object relative to the occupant restraintdevice would cause injury to the object upon deployment of the occupantrestraint device may entail training a second neural network on signalsfrom at least some of the transducers when different objects indifferent positions are situated in the passenger compartment.

[0097] A method for categorizing and determining the position of anobject in a passenger compartment of a vehicle in accordance with theinvention comprises the steps of mounting a plurality of wave-receivingtransducers on the vehicle, training a first neural network on signalsfrom at least some of the transducers representative of waves receivedby the transducers when different objects in different positions aresituated in the passenger compartment such that the first neural networkprovides an output signal indicative of the categorization of theobject, and training a second neural network on signals from at leastsome of said transducers representative of waves received by thetransducers when different objects in different positions are situatedin the passenger compartment such that the second neural networkprovides an output signal indicative of the position of the object.

[0098] It is yet another broad object of the present invention toprovide a method for accurately detecting the presence of anout-of-position occupant, and particularly one who becomesout-of-position during a high speed crash, in order to prevent one ormore airbags from deploying, which airbag(s) would impact against thehead or chest of the occupant during its initial deployment phasecausing injury or possible death to the occupant.

[0099] Further principle objects and advantages of the apparatus andmethods in accordance with the particular improvements of the inventionare:

[0100] 1. To provide a method for reducing the effects of thermalgradients that occur when the sun beats down on a closed vehicle or fromthe operation of the heater or air conditioner, such gradients causingthe ultrasonic or electromagnetic waves to be diffracted and therebychanging the received wave pattern.

[0101] 2. To provide a reliable method using a single transducer forboth sending and receiving ultrasonic or electromagnetic waves whilepermitting objects to be detected that are less than 4 inches from thetransducer.

[0102] 3. To provide a reliable method for dynamically determining thelocation of a vehicle occupant who is moving toward the airbag moduledue to vehicle decelerations caused by, for example, pre-crash brakingand to use this information to control another vehicle system such asthe airbag system.

[0103] 4. To provide a reliable method for compensating for the effectsof the change in the speed of sound due to temperature changes withinthe vehicle, such method based on the variation of a measurable propertyof the transducer such as its capacitance, inductance or naturalfrequency with temperature.

[0104] 5. To provide a reliable method for determining in a timelymanner, such as every 10-20 milliseconds, that an occupant is out ofposition, or will become out of position, and likely to be injured by adeploying airbag and to then output a signal to suppress the deploymentof the airbag and to do so in sufficient time that the airbag deploymentcan be suppressed even in the case of a poorly designed ormalfunctioning crash sensor which triggers late on a short durationcrash.

[0105] 6. To provide a method of controlling the wave pattern emittedfrom the transducer assembly so as to more precisely illuminate the areaof interest.

[0106] 7. To provide apparatus which permits speed of sound compensationto be achieved even when each transducer in the system operates at adifferent tuned frequency.

[0107] 8. To provide apparatus which permits detecting objects that arevery close to the transducer assembly.

[0108] To further improve the operation of the ultrasonic portion of thesystem, especially when thermal gradients are present, the receivedsignal is processed using a pseudo logarithmic compression circuit. Thiscircuit compresses high amplitude reflections in comparison to lowamplitude reflections and thereby diminishes the effects of diffractioncause by thermal gradients.

[0109] These and other objects and advantages particular to theimprovements of this invention will become apparent from the followingdescription of the preferred embodiments of the vehicle identificationand monitoring system of this invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0110] The invention will be described with reference to the followingnon-limiting drawings.

[0111]FIG. 1 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of a vehicleshowing the passenger compartment containing a rear facing child seat onthe front passenger seat and a preferred mounting location for anoccupant and rear facing child seat presence detector.

[0112]FIG. 1A is a side view of the passenger compartment of a vehiclewith parts cutaway and removed showing the use of a resonator todetermine the presence of a rear-facing child seat.

[0113]FIG. 2 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed showingschematically the interface between the vehicle interior monitoringsystem of this invention and the vehicle cellular communication system.

[0114]FIG. 3 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed showingschematically the interface between the vehicle interior monitoringsystem of this invention and the vehicle heating and air conditioningsystem.

[0115]FIG. 4 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed showingschematically the interface between the vehicle interior monitoringsystem of this invention and the vehicle airbag system.

[0116]FIG. 5 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed showingschematically the interface between the vehicle interior monitoringsystem of this invention and the vehicle entertainment system.

[0117]FIG. 6 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of a vehicleshowing the passenger compartment containing a driver and a preferredmounting location for an occupant identification system.

[0118]FIG. 7A is a functional block diagram of the ultrasonic imagingsystem illustrated in FIG. 1 using a microprocessor.

[0119]FIG. 7B is a functional block diagram of the ultrasonic imagingsystem illustrated in FIG. 1 using an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC).

[0120]FIG. 8 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of a vehicleshowing the passenger compartment containing a box on the frontpassenger seat and a preferred mounting location for an occupant andrear facing child seat presence detector.

[0121]FIG. 9 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of a vehicleshowing the passenger compartment containing a driver and a preferredmounting location for an occupant position sensor for use in sideimpacts and also of a rear of occupant's head locator for use with aheadrest adjustment system to reduce whiplash injuries in rear impactcrashes.

[0122]FIG. 10 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of a vehicleshowing the passenger compartment containing a front passenger and apreferred mounting location for an occupant head detector and apreferred mounting location of an adjustable microphone and speakers.

[0123]FIG. 11 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of a subjectvehicle and an oncoming vehicle, showing the headlights of the oncomingvehicle and the passenger compartment of the subject vehicle, containingdetectors of the driver's eyes and detectors for the headlights of theoncoming vehicle and the selective filtering of the light of theapproaching vehicle's headlights through the use of electro-chromicglass or a liquid crystal system in the windshield.

[0124]FIG. 11A is an enlarged view of the section designated 11A in FIG.11.

[0125]FIG. 12 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of a vehicleand a following vehicle showing the headlights of the following vehicleand the passenger compartment of the leading vehicle containing a driverand a preferred mounting location for driver eyes and following vehicleheadlight detectors and the selective filtering of the light of thefollowing vehicle's headlights through the use of electro-chromic glassor liquid crystal system in the rear view mirror.

[0126]FIG. 12A is an enlarged view of the section designated 12A in FIG.12.

[0127]FIG. 13 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of a vehicleshowing the passenger compartment containing a driver, a shoulder heightsensor and a seatbelt anchorage adjustment system.

[0128]FIG. 14 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of a seat inthe passenger compartment of a vehicle showing the use of ultrasonicresonators or reflectors to determine the position of the seat.

[0129]FIG. 15 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of thepassenger compartment of a vehicle showing the use of ultrasonicresonators or reflectors to determine the position of the driverseatbelt.

[0130]FIG. 16 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of thepassenger compartment of a vehicle showing the use of an ultrasonicresonator or reflector to determine the extent of opening of the driverwindow and of a system for determining the presence of an object, suchas the hand of an occupant, in the window opening.

[0131]FIG. 16A is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of thepassenger compartment of a vehicle showing the use of an ultrasonicresonator or reflector to determine the extent of opening of the driverwindow and of another system for determining the presence of an object,such as the hand of an occupant, in the window opening.

[0132]FIG. 17 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed of thepassenger compartment of a vehicle showing the use of an ultrasonicresonator or reflector to determine the extent of opening of the driverside door.

[0133]FIG. 18 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed showingschematically the interface between the vehicle interior monitoringsystem of this invention and the vehicle security system.

[0134]FIG. 19 is a side view with parts cutaway and removed showingschematically the interface between the vehicle interior monitoringsystem of this invention and an instrument panel mounted inattentivenesswarning light or buzzer and reset button.

[0135]FIG. 20 shows a seated-state detecting unit in accordance with thepresent invention and the connections between ultrasonic sensors, aweight sensor, a reclining angle detecting sensor, a seat track positiondetecting sensor, a neural network circuit, and an airbag systeminstalled within a vehicle compartment;

[0136]FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a vehicle showing the relativelayout of the ultrasonic sensors or electromagnetic sensors relative tothe driver and front passenger seats;

[0137]FIG. 22 is a circuit diagram of the seated-state detecting unit ofthe present invention;

[0138]FIG. 23(a) is a diagram showing the transmit pulse of a respectiveultrasonic wave from four ultrasonic sensors toward the passenger seat.

[0139] FIGS. 23(b) and 23(c) are each a diagram showing theconfiguration of the reflected wave of an ultrasonic wave transmittedfrom each transmitter of the ultrasonic sensors toward the passengerseat, obtained within the time that the reflected wave arrives at areceiver, FIG. 23(b) showing an example of the reflected waves obtainedwhen a passenger is in an out-of-position seated-state (where thepassenger is seated too close to the instrument panel), and FIG. 23(c)showing an example of the reflected waves obtained when a passenger isin a normal seated state;

[0140]FIG. 24 is a diagram of the data processing of the reflected waveof the ultrasonic wave;

[0141]FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the training steps of a neuralnetwork circuit;

[0142]FIG. 26(a) is an explanatory diagram of a process for normalizingthe reflected wave and shows normalized reflected waves; and

[0143]FIG. 26(b) is a diagram similar to FIG. 26(a) showing a step ofextracting data based on the normalized reflected waves and a step ofweighting the extracted data by employing the data of the seat trackposition detecting sensor, the data of the reclining angle detectingsensor, and the data of the weight sensor.

[0144]FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the interior of the passengercompartment of an automobile, with parts cut away and removed, showing avariety of transducers.

[0145]FIG. 28 illustrates a circuit that performs a quasi-logarithmiccompression amplification of the return signal.

[0146]FIG. 29 illustrates a damped transducer where the damping materialis placed in the transducer cone.

[0147]FIG. 30 illustrates the superimposed reflections from a targetplaced at three distances from the transducer, 9 cm, 50 cm and 1 meterrespectively for a transducer with a damped cone as shown in FIG. 29.

[0148]FIG. 31 illustrates the superimposed reflections from a targetplaced at 16.4 cm, 50 cm and 1 meter respectively for a transducerwithout a damped cone.

[0149] FIGS. 32A-32F illustrate a variety of examples of a transducer ina tube design. A straight tube with an exponential horn is illustratedin FIG. 32A. FIGS. 32B and 32C illustrate the bending of the tubethrough 40 degrees and 90 degrees respectively. FIG. 32D illustrates theincorporation of a single loop and FIG. 32E of multiple loops. FIG. 32Fillustrates the use of a small diameter tube.

[0150]FIG. 33 illustrates the effect of a delay in the start of theamplifier for a fraction of a millisecond on the ability to measureclose objects.

[0151] FIGS. 34A-B illustrates the use of a Colpits system forpermitting the electronic damping the motion of the transducer cone andthereby eliminating the ringing.

[0152]FIG. 35 illustrates an alternative method of electronicallyreducing the ringing of the ultrasonic transducer.

[0153]FIG. 36A is an example of a horn shaped to create an ellipticalpattern and the resulting pattern is illustrated in FIG. 36B.

[0154]FIG. 37 illustrates an alternate method of achieving a particulardesired ultrasonic field shape by using a flat reflector.

[0155]FIG. 38 is similar to FIG. 37 except a concave reflector is used.

[0156]FIG. 39 is similar to FIG. 37 except a convex reflector is used.

[0157]FIG. 40 is diagram of a neural network similar to FIG. 26(b) onlywith a dual architecture with the addition of a post processingoperation for both the categorization and position measurement networksand separate hidden layer nodes for each of the two networks.

[0158]FIG. 41 is a circuit diagram showing a method of approximatelycompensating for the drop-off in signal strength due to distance to thetarget.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0159] Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein the same referencenumerals refer to the same or similar elements, in FIG. 1, a side view,with parts cutaway and removed, of a vehicle showing the passengercompartment containing a rear facing child seat 110 on a front passengerseat 120 and a previously disclosed mounting location for an occupantand rear facing child seat presence detector in accordance with theinvention is illustrated.

[0160] In this embodiment, three ultrasonic transducers 131, 132 and 133are used in the presence detector in accordance with the invention,although any number and type of wave-transmitting transducers orradiation-receiving receivers may be used. Such transducers or receiversmay be of the type which emit or receive a modulated continuous signal,a time varying signal or a spatial varying signal such as in a scanningsystem. The preferred case is where each transducer emits periodicbursts of a few waves of radiation. Thus, transducers 131-133 may beelectromagnetic transducers.

[0161] Transducer 132 transmits ultrasonic energy toward the frontpassenger seat, which is reflected, in this case by the occupying itemof the passenger seat, i.e., the rear facing child seat 110, and thereflected waves are received by the transducers 131 and 133. The wavesreceived by transducers 131 and 133 vary with time depending on theshape of the object occupying the passenger seat, in this case the rearfacing child seat 110. Each object will reflect back a signal having adifferent pattern. Also, the pattern received by transducer 131 willdiffer slightly from the pattern received by transducer 133 in view ofits different mounting location. In some systems, this differencepermits the determination of location of the reflecting surface throughtriangulation.

[0162] Through the use of two transducers 131,133, a sort ofstereo-graphic image is received by the two transducers and recorded foranalysis by processor 101, which is coupled to the transducers131,132,133. This image will differ for each object that is placed onthe vehicle seat and it will also change for each position of aparticular object and for each position of the vehicle seat.

[0163] The “image” recorded from each ultrasonic transducer/receiver,for ultrasonic systems, is actually a time series of digitized data ofthe amplitude of the received signal versus time. Since there are tworeceivers, two time series are obtained which are processed by theprocessor 101. When different objects are placed on the front passengerseat the two images are different but there are also similaritiesbetween all images of rear facing child seats, for example, regardlessof where on the vehicle seat it is placed and regardless of what companymanufactured the child seat. Alternately, there will be similaritiesbetween all images of people sitting on the seat regardless of what theyare wearing, their age or size. The problem is to find the “rules” whichdifferentiate the occupant images from the rear facing child seatimages, for example. The similarities of these images for various childseats are frequently not obvious to a person looking at plots of thetime series and thus computer algorithms are developed to sort out thevarious patterns.

[0164] The determination of these rules is central to the patternrecognition techniques used in this invention. In general, threeapproaches have been useful, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic andartificial neural networks plus the combination of fuzz logic and neuralnetworks—a neural-fuzzy system. In some implementations of thisinvention, such as the determination that there is an object in the pathof a closing window as described below, the rules are sufficientlyobvious that a trained researcher can look at the returned acousticsignals and devise a simple algorithm to make the requireddeterminations. In others, such as the determination of the presence ofa rear facing child seat or of an occupant, artificial neural networksare used to determine the rules. One such set of neural network softwarefor determining the pattern recognition rules is available from theNeuralWare Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pa.

[0165] The system used in a preferred implementation of this inventionfor the determination of the presence of a rear facing child seat, of anoccupant or of an empty seat was the artificial neural network. In thiscase, the network operates on the two returned signals as sensed bytransducers 131 and 133. Through a training session, the system istaught to differentiate between the three cases. This is done byconducting a large number of experiments where a large variety of childseats are placed in a large variety of orientations on the frontpassenger seat. Similarly a sufficiently large number of experiments arerun with human occupants and with boxes, bags of groceries and otherobjects. Sometimes as many as 1,000,000 such experiments are run beforethe neural network is sufficiently trained so that it can differentiateamong the three cases and output the correct decision with a very highprobability. Naturally, although two transducers were used in thisexample, in general the greater the number of transducers and thegreater the separation in their mounting positions around the vehicleseat the higher the accuracy of the resulting system. Typically fourtransducers are mounted high in the vehicle on the comers of anapproximate rectangle or rhombus surrounding the seat volume to bemonitored.

[0166] Once the network is determined, it is possible to examine theresult using tools supplied by NeuralWare, for example, or by examiningthe resulting algorithm, to determine the rules that were finallyarrived at by the trial and error techniques. In that case, the rulescan then be programmed into a microprocessor resulting in a static rulebased system. Alternately, a neural computer can be used to implementthe net directly. In either case, the implementation can be carried outby those skilled in the art of pattern recognition. If a microprocessoris used, a memory device is also required to store the data from theanalog to digital converters that digitize the data from the receivingtransducers. On the other hand, if a neural network computer is used,the analog signal can be fed directly from the transducers to the neuralnetwork input nodes and an intermediate memory is not required. Memoryof some type is needed to store the computer programs in the case of themicroprocessor system and if the neural computer is used for more thanone task, a memory is needed to store the network specific valuesassociated with each task.

[0167] An alternate system is shown in FIG. 2, which is a side viewshowing schematically the interface between the vehicle interiormonitoring system of this invention and the vehicle cellularcommunication system. In this view, an adult occupant 210 is shownsitting on the front passenger seat 220 and two ultrasonic transducers231 and 232 are used to determine the presence (or absence) of theoccupant on that seat 220. One of the transducers 232 in this case actsas both a transmitter and receiver while transducer 231 acts only as areceiver. Alternately, transducer 231 could serve as both a transmitterand receiver or the transmitting function could be alternated betweenthe two devices. Also, in many cases, more that two transmitters andreceivers are used and in still other cases other types of sensors, suchas weight, seatbelt buckle, seatbelt payout and seat and seatbackposition sensors, are also used in combination with the radiationsensors.

[0168] As was also the case in FIG. 1, the transducers 231 and 232 areattached to the vehicle buried in the A-pillar trim, where theirpresence is disguised, and are connected to processor 101 that is alsohidden in the trim. The A-pillar is the roof support pillar that isclosest to the front of the vehicle and which, in addition to supportingthe roof, also supports the front windshield and the front door.Naturally, other mounting locations can also be used.

[0169] The interface between the monitoring system and the cellularphone system is shown schematically by box 240 that outputs to anantenna 250A. The transducers 231 and 232 in conjunction with thepattern recognition hardware and software, which is implemented inprocessor 101 and is packaged on a printed circuit board or flex circuitalong with the transducers 231 and 232, determine the presence of anoccupant within a few seconds after the vehicle is started. Similarsystems located to monitor the remaining seats in the vehicle, alsodetermine the presence of occupants at the other seating locations andthis result is stored in the computer memory which is part of eachmonitoring system processor 101.

[0170] In the event of an accident, the electronic system associatedwith the cellular phone system interrogates the various interiormonitoring system memories and arrives at a count of the number ofoccupants in the vehicle, and in more sophisticated systems, even makesa determination as to whether each occupant was wearing a seatbelt andif he or she is moving after the accident. The phone system thenautomatically dials the EMS operator (such as 911) and the informationobtained from the interior monitoring systems is forwarded so that adetermination can be made as to the number of ambulances and otherequipment to send to the accident site. Vehicles having this capabilityare now in service. Such vehicles also have a global positioning system,which permits the vehicle to determine its exact location and to forwardthis information to the EMS operator. Other systems can be implementedin conjunction with the communication with the emergency servicesoperator. For example, a microphone and speaker can be activated topermit the operator to attempt to communicate with vehicle occupants andthereby learn directly of the status and seriousness of the condition ofthe occupants after the accident.

[0171] The control of the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning(HVAC) system alone would probably not justify the implementation of aninterior monitoring system at least until the time comes when electronicheating and cooling systems replace the conventional systems now used.Nevertheless, if the monitoring system is present, it can be used tocontrol the HVAC for a small increment in cost. The advantage of such asystem is that since most vehicles contain only a single occupant, thereis no need to direct heat or air conditioning to unoccupied seats. Thispermits the most rapid heating or cooling for the driver when thevehicle is first started and he or she is alone without heating orcooling unoccupied seats. Since the HVAC system does consume energy, anenergy saving also results by only heating and cooling the driver whenhe or she is alone.

[0172]FIG. 3 shows a side view of a vehicle passenger compartmentshowing schematically an interface 260 between the vehicle interiormonitoring system of this invention and the vehicle heating and airconditioning system. In addition to the transducers 231 and 232, whichat least in this embodiment are preferably acoustic (ultrasonic)transducers, an infrared sensor 234 is also shown mounted in theA-pillar and which monitors the temperature of the occupant. The outputfrom each of the transducers is fed into processor 101 that is in turnconnected to interface 260. In this manner, the HVAC control is based onthe occupant's temperature rather than that of the ambient air in thevehicle, as well as the determined presence of the occupant viatransducers 231,232 as described above. This also permits each vehicleoccupant to be independently monitored and the HVAC system to beadjusted for each occupant either based on a set temperature for alloccupants or, alternately, each occupant could be permitted to set hisown preferred temperature through adjusting a control knob shownschematically as 250 in FIG. 3.

[0173] Since the monitoring system is already installed in the vehiclewith its own associated electronics including processor 101, theinfrared sensor can be added with little additional cost and can sharethe processing unit. Not only can this system be used for directing hotand cold air, but developments in the field of directing sound usinghyper-sound now make it possible to accurately direct sound to thevicinity of the ears of an occupant so that only that occupant can hearthe sound. The system of this invention can thus be used to find theproximate direction of the ears of the occupant for this purpose.

[0174] The use of the vehicle interior monitoring system to control thedeployment of an airbag is discussed in detail in U.S. Pat. No.5,653,462 cross referenced above. In that case, the control is based onthe use of a simple pattern recognition system to differentiate betweenthe occupant and his extremities in order to provide an accuratedetermination of the position of the occupant relative to the airbag. Ifthe occupant is sufficiently close to the airbag module that he or sheis more likely to be injured by the deployment itself than by theaccident, the deployment of the airbag is suppressed. This process iscarried further by the interior monitoring system described herein inthat the nature or identity of the object occupying the vehicle seat isused to contribute to the airbag deployment decision. FIG. 4 shows aside view illustrating schematically the interface between the vehicleinterior monitoring system of this invention and the vehicle airbagsystem electronics 270.

[0175] In this embodiment, an ultrasonic transducer 232 transmits aburst of ultrasonic waves that travel to the occupant where they arereflected back to transducers or receptors/receivers 231 and 232. Thetime period required for the waves to travel from the generator andreturn is used to determine the distance from the occupant to the airbagas described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,462, i.e., andthus may also be used to determine the position or location of theoccupant. In the case of this invention, however, the portion of thereturn signal, which represents the occupants' head or chest, has beendetermined based on pattern recognition techniques such as a neuralnetwork. The relative velocity of the occupant toward the airbag canthen be determined, from successive position measurements, which permitsa sufficiently accurate prediction of the time when the occupant wouldbecome proximate to the airbag. By comparing the occupant's relativevelocity to the integral of the crash deceleration pulse, adetermination as to whether the occupant is being restrained by aseatbelt can also be made which then can affect the airbag deploymentinitiation decision. Alternately, the mere knowledge that the occupanthas moved a distance which would not be possible if he were wearing aseatbelt gives information that he is not wearing one.

[0176] Another method of providing a significant improvement to theproblem of determining the position of the occupant during vehicledeceleration is to input the vehicle deceleration directly into theoccupant sensing system. This can be done through the use of the airbagcrash sensor accelerometer or a dedicated accelerometer can be used.This deceleration can be entered directly into the neural network or,preferably, can be integrated with the predictions of the neural networkthrough an additional post-processing algorithm. Post processing ingeneral is discussed below. One significant advantage of neural networksis their ability to efficiently use information from any source. It isthe ultimate “sensor fusion” system.

[0177] A more detailed discussion of this process and of the advantagesof the various technologies, such as acoustic or electromagnetic, can befound in SAE paper 940527, “Vehicle Occupant Position Sensing” by Breedet al, which is included herein by reference. In this paper, it isdemonstrated that the time delay required for acoustic waves to travelto the occupant and return does not prevent the use of acoustics forposition measurement of occupants during the crash event. The Appendixto this specification also contains an analysis of the timing requiredfor dynamic out-of-position measurements. For position measurement andfor many pattern recognition applications, ultrasonics is the preferredtechnology due to the lack of adverse health effects and the low cost ofultrasonic systems compared with either laser or radar. The mainlimiting feature of ultrasonics is the wavelength, which is similar tothat of radar and which places a limitation on the size of features thatcan be discerned. Optical systems, for example, are required when theidentification of particular individuals is required.

[0178] It is well known among acoustics engineers that the quality ofsound coming from an entertainment system can be substantially affectedby the characteristics and contents of the space in which it operatesand the surfaces surrounding that space. When an engineer is designing asystem for an automobile he or she has a great deal of knowledge aboutthat space and of the vehicle surfaces surrounding it. He or she haslittle knowledge of how many occupants are likely to be in the vehicleon a particular day, however, and therefore the system is a compromise.If the system knew the number and position of the vehicle occupants, andmaybe even their size, then adjustments could be made in the systemoutput and the sound quality improved.

[0179]FIG. 5, therefore, illustrates schematically the interface betweenthe vehicle interior monitoring system of this invention, i.e.,transducers 231,232 and processor 101 which operate as set forth above,and the vehicle entertainment system 280. The particular design of theentertainment system that uses the information provided by themonitoring system can be determined by those skilled in the appropriateart. Perhaps alone or in combination with this system, the quality ofthe sound system can be measured by the audio system itself either byusing the speakers as receiving units also or through the use of specialmicrophones. The quality of the sound can then be adjusted according tothe vehicle occupancy and the reflectivity of the vehicle occupants. If,for example, certain frequencies are being reflected more that others,the audio amplifier can be adjusted to amplify those frequencies to alesser amount that others.

[0180] The acoustic frequencies that are practical to use for acousticimaging in the systems are between 40 to 160 kilohertz (kHz). Thewavelength of a 50 kHz acoustic wave is about 0.6 cm which is too coarseto determine the fine features of a person's face, for example. It iswell understood by those skilled in the art that features which aresmaller than the wavelength of the illuminating radiation cannot bedistinguished. Similarly the wave length of common radar systems variesfrom about 0.9 cm (for 33,000 MHz K band) to 133 cm (for 225 MHz P band)which is also too coarse for person identification systems. In FIG. 6,therefore, the ultrasonic transducers of the previous designs arereplaced by laser transducers 231 and 232 which are connected to amicroprocessor 101. In all other manners, the system operates similarly.The design of the electronic circuits for this laser system is describedin some detail in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,462 referenced above and inparticular FIG. 8 thereof and the corresponding description. In thiscase, a pattern recognition system such as a neural network system isemployed and uses the demodulated signals from the receptors 231 and232.

[0181] The output of processor 101 of the monitoring system is shownconnected schematically to a general interface 290 which can be thevehicle ignition enabling system; the entertainment system; the seat,mirror, suspension or other adjustment systems; or any other appropriatevehicle system.

[0182] There are at least two preferred methods of implementing theelectronics of the vehicle interior monitoring system of this invention,a microprocessor system and an application specific integrated circuitsystem (ASIC) (or equivalently a “system on an chip” using today'stechnology). Both of these systems are represented schematically aseither 101 or 601 herein. A block diagram illustrating themicroprocessor system is shown in FIG. 7A which shows the implementationof the system of FIG. 1. An alternate implementation of the FIG. 1system using an ASIC is shown in FIG. 7B. In both cases the target,which may be a rear facing child seat, is shown schematically as 110 andthe three transducers as 131, 132, and 133. In the embodiment of FIG.7A, there is a digitizer coupled to the receivers 131,133 and theprocessor, and an indicator coupled to the processor. In the embodimentof FIG. 7B, there is a memory unit associated with the ASIC and also anindicator coupled to the ASIC.

[0183] In FIG. 8, a view of the system of FIG. 1 is illustrated with abox 295 shown on the front passenger seat in place of the rear facingchild seat. The vehicle interior monitoring system of this invention istrained to recognize that this box 295 is neither a rear facing childseat nor an occupant and therefore it is treated as an empty seat andthe deployment of the airbag is suppressed. This training isaccomplished using a neural network with the commercially availablesoftware disclosed above and provided by NeuralWare of Pittsburgh. Thesystem assesses the probability that the box is a person, however, andif there is even the remotest chance that it is a person, the airbagdeployment is not suppressed. The system is thus typically biased towardairbag deployment.

[0184] In cases where different levels of airbag inflation are possible,and there are different levels of injury associated with an out ofposition occupant being subjected to varying levels of airbagdeployment, it is sometimes possible to permit a low level airbagdeployment in cases of uncertainty. If, for example, the neural networkhas a problem distinguishing whether a box or a forward facing childseat is present on the vehicle seat, the decision can be made to deploythe airbag in a depowered or low level deployment state. Othersituations where such a decision could be made would be when there isconfusion as to whether a forward facing human is in position orout-of-position.

[0185] Neural networks systems frequently have problems in accuratelydiscriminating the exact location of an occupant especially whendifferent sized occupants are considered. This results in a gray zonearound the border of the keep out zone where the system provides a weakfire or weak no fire decision. For those cases deployment of the airbagin a depowered state can resolve the situation since an occupant in agray zone around the keep out zone boundary would be unlikely to beinjured by such a depowered deployment while significant airbagprotection is still being supplied.

[0186] Side impact airbags are now beginning to be used on somevehicles. These initial airbags are quite small compared to the driveror passenger airbags used for frontal impact protection. Nevertheless, asmall child could be injured if he or she is sleeping with his or herhead against the airbag when it deploys and a vehicle interiormonitoring system is needed to prevent such a deployment in that event.In FIG. 9, a single ultrasonic transducer 330 is shown mounted in thevehicle door adjacent to the airbag system. This device is not primarilyused to identify the object that is adjacent the airbag but is intendedprimarily to assist in a measurement of the position of the object.

[0187] A rear-of-head detector 334 is also illustrated in FIG. 9. Thisdetector 334 is used to determine the distance from the headrest to therear most position of the occupant's head and to therefore control theposition of the headrest so that it is properly positioned behind theoccupant's head to offer optimum support in the event of a rear impact.Although the headrest of most vehicles is adjustable, it is rare for anoccupant to position it properly if at all. Each year there are inexcess of 400,000 whiplash injuries in vehicle impacts approximately90,000 of which are from rear impacts (source: National Highway TrafficSafety Administration, (NHTSA)). A properly positioned headrest couldsubstantially reduce the frequency of such injuries, which can beaccomplished by the head detector of this invention. The head detector334 is shown connected schematically to the headrest control mechanismand circuitry 340. This mechanism is capable of moving the headrest upand down and, in some cases, rotating it fore and aft.

[0188] When the driver of a vehicle is using a cellular phone, the phonemicrophone frequently picks up other noise in the vehicle making itdifficult for the other party to hear what is being said. This noise canbe reduced if a directional microphone is used and directed toward themouth of the driver. This is difficult to do since position of drivers'mouths varies significantly depending on such things as the size andseating position of the driver. By using the vehicle interioridentification and monitoring system of this invention, and throughappropriate pattern recognition techniques, the location of the driver'shead can be determined with sufficient accuracy even with ultrasonics topermit a directional microphone having a 15 degree cone angle to beaimed at the mouth of the driver resulting in a clear reception of hisvoice.

[0189] The use of directional speakers or even a hypersonic sound systemin a similar manner also improves the telephone, system performance.Such a system can also be used to permit effortless conversationsbetween occupants of the front and rear seats. Such a system is shown inFIG. 10 which is a system similar to that of FIG. 2 only using threeultrasonic transducers 231, 232 and 233 to determine the location of thedriver's head and control the pointing direction of a microphone 355.Speaker 357 is shown connected schematically to the phone system 359completing the system.

[0190] The transducers 231 and 232 are placed high in the A-pillar andthe third transducer 233 is placed in the headliner and displacedhorizontally from transducers 231 and 232. The two transducers 231 and232 provide information to permit the determination of the locus of thehead in the vertical direction and the combination of one of transducers231 and 232 in conjunction with transducer 233 is used to determine thehorizontal location of the head. The three transducers are placed highin the vehicle passenger compartment so that the first returned signalis from the head. Temporal filtering is used to eliminate signals whichare reflections from beyond the head and the determination of the headcenter location is then found by the approximate centroid of the headreturned signal. That is, once the location of the return signalcentroid is found from each of the three received signals fromtransducers 231, 232 and 233, the distance to that point is known foreach of the transducers based on the time it takes the signal to travelfrom the head to each transducer. In this manner, by using the threetransducers plus an algorithm for finding the coordinates of the headcenter, using processor 101, and through the use of known relationshipsbetween the location of the mouth and the head center, an estimate ofthe mouth location, and the ear locations, can be determined within acircle having a diameter of about five inches (13 cm). This issufficiently accurate for a directional microphone to cover the mouthwhile excluding the majority of unwanted noise.

[0191] The headlights of oncoming vehicles frequently make it difficultfor the driver of a vehicle to see the road and safely operate thevehicle. This is a significant cause of accidents and much discomfort.The problem is especially severe during bad weather where rain can causemultiple reflections. Visors are now used to partially solve thisproblem but they do so by completely blocking the view through a largeportion of the window and therefore cannot be used to cover the entirewindshield. Similar problems happen when the sun is setting or risingand the driver is operating the vehicle in the direction of the sun. Thevehicle interior monitoring system of this invention can contribute tothe solution of this problem by determining the position of the driver'seyes.

[0192] If separate sensors are used to sense the direction of the lightfrom the on-coming vehicle or the sun, and through the use ofelectro-chromic glass or a liquid crystal assembly for example, aportion of the windshield can be darkened to impose a filter between theeyes of the driver and the light source. Electro-chromic glass is amaterial where the color of the glass can be changed through theapplication of an electric current. By dividing the windshield into acontrolled grid or matrix of contiguous areas and through feeding thecurrent into the windshield from orthogonal directions, selectiveportions of the windshield can be darkened as desired. Other systems forselectively imposing a filter between the eyes of an occupant and thelight source are currently under development.

[0193]FIG. 11 illustrates how such a system operates. A sensor 410located on vehicle 402 determines the direction of the light 412 fromthe headlights of oncoming vehicle 404. Sensor 410 is comprised of alens and a charge-coupled device (CCD), or CMOS light sensing or similardevice, with appropriate electronic circuitry which determines whichelements of the CCD are being most brightly illuminated. An algorithmstored in processor 101 then calculates the direction of the light fromthe oncoming headlights based on the information from the CCD, or CMOSdevice. Transducers 231, 232 and 233 determine the probable location ofthe eyes of the operator 210 of vehicle 402 in a manner such asdescribed above in conjunction with the determination of the location ofthe driver's mouth in the discussion of FIG. 10. In this case, however,the determination of the probable locus of the driver's eyes is madewith an accuracy of a diameter for each eye of about 3 inches (7.5 cm).This calculation sometimes will be in error and provision is made forthe driver to make an adjustment to correct for this error as describedbelow.

[0194] The windshield 416 of vehicle 402 is made from electro-chromicglass or comprises a liquid crystal assembly or similar system, and isselectively darkened at area 418 due to the application of a currentalong perpendicular directions 422 and 424 of windshield 416 or otherappropriate means. The particular portion of the windshield to bedarkened is determined by processor 101. Once the direction of the lightfrom the oncoming vehicle is known and the locations of the driver'seyes are known, it is a matter of simple trigonometry to determine whichareas of the windshield matrix should be darkened to impose a filterbetween the headlights and the driver's eyes. This is accomplished byprocessor 101. A separate control system, not shown, located on theinstrument panel, or at some other convenient location, allows thedriver to select the amount of darkening accomplished by the system fromno darkening to maximum darkening. In this manner, the driver can selectthe amount of light that is filtered to suit his particular physiology.The sensor 410 can either be designed to respond to a single lightsource or to multiple light sources to be sensed and thus multipleportions of the vehicle windshield to be darkened.

[0195] As mentioned above, the calculations of the location of thedriver's eyes using acoustic systems may be in error and thereforeprovision must be made to correct for this error. One such systempermits the driver to adjust the center of the darkened portion of thewindshield to correct for such errors through a knob on the instrumentpanel, steering wheel or other convenient location. Another solutionpermits the driver to make the adjustment by slightly moving his head.Once a calculation as to the location of the driver's eyes has beenmade, that calculation is not changed even though the driver moves hishead slightly. It is assumed that the driver will only move his head tocenter the darkened portion of the windshield to optimally filter thelight from the oncoming vehicle. The monitoring system will detect thisinitial head motion and make the correction automatically for futurecalculations.

[0196] Electro-chromic glass is currently used in rear view mirrors todarken the entire mirror in response to the amount of light striking anassociated sensor. This substantially reduces the ability of the driverto see objects coming from behind his vehicle. If one rear-approachingvehicle, for example, has failed to dim his lights, the mirror will bedarkened to respond to the light from that vehicle making it difficultfor the driver to see other vehicles that are also approaching from therear. If the rear view mirror is selectively darkened on only thoseportions which cover the lights from the offending vehicle, the driveris able to see all of the light coming from the rear whether the sourceis bright or dim. This permits the driver to see all of the approachingvehicles not just the one with bright lights.

[0197] Such a system is illustrated in FIG. 12 where rear view mirror460 is equipped with electro-chromic glass, or comprises a liquidcrystal or similar assembly, having the capability of being selectivelydarkened, e.g., at area 419. Associated with mirror 460 is a lightsensor 462 that determines the direction of light 412 from theheadlights of rear approaching vehicle 405. In the same manner as above,transducers 231, 232 and 233 determine the location of the eyes of thedriver 210. The signals from both sensor systems, 231, 232 plus 233 and462, are combined in processor 101, where a determination is made as towhat portions of the mirror should be darkened, e.g., area 419.Appropriate currents are then sent to the mirror in a manner similar tothe windshield system described above.

[0198] Seatbelts are most effective when the upper attachment point tothe vehicle is positioned vertically close to the shoulder of theoccupant being restrained. If the attachment point is too low theoccupant experiences discomfort from the rubbing of the belt on hisshoulder. If it is too high, the occupant may experience discomfort dueto the rubbing of the belt against his neck and the occupant will moveforward by a greater amount during a crash which may result in his headstriking the steering wheel. Women in particular experience discomfortfrom an improperly adjusted seatbelt anchorage point. For these reasons,it is desirable to have the upper seatbelt attachment point locatedslightly above the occupant's shoulder. To accomplish this for varioussized occupants, the location of the occupant's shoulder must be knownwhich can be accomplished by the vehicle interior monitoring systemdescribed herein.

[0199] Such a system is illustrated in FIG. 13 that is a side view of aseatbelt anchorage adjustment system. In this system, a transmitter andreceiver (transducer) 520 is positioned in a convenient location, suchas the headliner, located above and to the outside of the occupant'sshoulder. A narrow elliptical beam 521 of energy is transmitted fromtransducer 520 in a manner such that it illuminates the occupant'sshoulder and headrest. An appropriate pattern recognition system asdescribed above is then used to determine the location and position ofthe shoulder. This information is fed to the seatbelt anchorage heightadjustment system 528, shown schematically, which moves the attachmentpoint 529 to the optimum vertical location.

[0200] Acoustic resonators are active or passive devices that resonateat a preset frequency when excited at that frequency. If such a device,which has been tuned to 40 kHz, is subjected to ultrasonic radiation at40 kHz, for example, it can return a signal that is much stronger thanthe reflected radiation and the vibrations persist for a longer timeperiod. If such a device is placed at a particular point in thepassenger compartment of a vehicle, the returned signal can be easilyidentified as a high magnitude narrow signal at a particular point intime which is proportional to the distance from the resonator to thereceiver. Since this device can be easily identified, it provides aparticularly effective method of determining the distance to aparticular point in the vehicle passenger compartment. Alternately, adevice having a highly reflecting surface can be used in place of aresonator. If several such resonators or reflectors are used they can betuned to slightly different frequencies and therefore separated andidentified by the circuitry. Using such resonators or reflectors thepositions of various objects in the vehicle can be determined.

[0201] In FIG. 14 for example, three such resonators or reflectors areplaced on the vehicle seat and used to determine the location of thefront and back of the seat and the top of the seat back. In this case,transducers 231 and 232, mounted in the A-pillar 662, are used inconjunction with resonators 641, 642 and 643 to determine the positionof the seat. This information is then fed to the seat memory andadjustment system, not shown, eliminating the currently used sensorsthat are placed typically beneath the seat adjacent the seat adjustmentmotors. In the conventional system, the seat sensors must be wired intothe seat adjustment system and are prone to being damaged. By using thevehicle interior monitoring system alone with inexpensive active orpassive resonators or reflectors, the conventional seat sensors can beeliminated resulting in a cost saving to the vehicle manufacturer. Anefficient reflector, such as a parabolic shaped reflector, can be usedin a similar manner as the resonator.

[0202] Resonators or reflectors, of the type described above can be usedfor making a variety of position measurements in the vehicle. Theseresonators are made to resonate at a particular frequency. If the numberof resonators increases beyond a reasonable number, dual frequencyresonators can be used. A pair of frequencies is then used to identify aparticular location. Alternately, resonators tuned to a particularfrequency can be used in combination with special transmitters, whichtransmit at the tuned frequency, which are designed to work with aparticular resonator or group of resonators. The cost of the transducersis sufficiently low to permit special transducers to be used for specialpurposes. The use of resonators which resonate at different frequenciesrequires that they be illuminated by radiation containing thosefrequencies.

[0203] Another application for a resonator of the type described is todetermine the location of the seatbelt and therefore determine whetherit is in use. If it is known that the occupants are wearing seatbelts,the airbag deployment threshold can be increased since the airbag is notneeded in low velocity accidents if the occupants are already restrainedby seatbelts. This will reduce the number of deployments for cases wherethe airbag provides little or no improvement in safety over theseatbelt. FIG. 15, for example, shows the placement of a resonator 602onto the front surface of the seatbelt where it can be sensed by thetransducers 231 and 232. Such a system can also be used to positivelyidentify the presence of a rear facing child seat in the vehicle. Forexample, FIG. 1 shows the placement of a resonator 603 on the back of arear-facing child seat 110.

[0204] Other uses for such resonators include placing them on doors andwindows in order to determine whether either is open or closed. In FIG.16A, for example, such a resonator 604 is placed onto the top of thewindow and is sensed by transducers 611 and 612. In this case,transducers 611 and 612 also monitor the space between the edge of thewindow glass and the top of the window opening. Many vehicles now havesystems which permit the rapid opening of the window, called “expressopen”, by a momentary push of a button. For example, when a vehicleapproaches a tollbooth, the driver needs only touch the window controlbutton and the window opens rapidly. Some automobile manufacturers donot wish to use such systems for closing the window, called “expressclose”, because of the fear that the hand of the driver, or of a childleaning forward from the rear seat, or some other object, could getcaught between the window and window frame. If the space between theedge of the window and the window frame were monitored with an interiormonitoring system, this problem can be solved. The presence of theresonator or reflector 604 on the top of the window glass also gives apositive indication of where the top surface is and reflections frombelow that point can be ignored.

[0205] Various design variations of the window monitoring system arepossible and the particular choice will depend on the requirements ofthe vehicle manufacturer and the characteristics of the vehicle. Twosystems will be briefly described here.

[0206] In the first example shown in FIG. 16, a singletransmitter/receiver (transducer) 613 is used in place of and locatedcentrally midway between the transducers 611 and 612 shown in FIG. 16A.A recording of the output of transducer 613 is made of the open windowwithout an object in the space between the window edge and the top ofthe window frame. When in operation, the transducer 613 receives thereturn signal from the space it is monitoring and compares that signalwith the stored signal referenced above. This is done by processor 601.If the difference between the test signal and the stored signalindicates that there is a reflecting object in the monitored space, thewindow is prevented from closing in the express close mode. If thewindow is part way up, a reflection will be received from the edge ofthe window glass which, in most cases, is easily identifiable from thereflection of a hand for example. A simple algorithm based on theintensity of the reflection in most cases is sufficient to determinethat an object rather than the window edge is in the monitored space. Inother cases, the algorithm is used to identify the window edge andignore that reflection and all other reflections which are lower (i.e.later in time) than the window edge. In all cases, the system willdefault in not permitting the express close if there is any doubt. Theoperator can still close the window by holding the switch in the windowclosing position and the window will then close slowly as it now does invehicles without the express close feature.

[0207] In the second system, two transducers 611 and 612 are used asshown in FIG. 16A and the processor 601 comprises a neural network. Inthis example the system is trained for all cases where the window isdown and at intermediate locations. In operation, the transducersmonitor the window space and feed the received signals to processor 601.As long as the signals are similar to one of the signals for which thenetwork was trained, the express close system is enabled. As before, thedefault is to suppress the express close.

[0208] The use of a resonator, or reflector, to determine whether thevehicle door is properly shut is illustrated in FIG. 17. In tis case,the resonator 702 is placed in the B-pillar in such a manner that it isshielded by the door, or by a cover or other inhibiting mechanism (notshown) engaged by the door, and prevented from resonating when the dooris closed. Resonator 702 provides waves 704. If transducers such as 231and 232 in FIG. 3 are used in this system, the closed-door conditionwould be determined by the absence of a return signal from the B-pillarresonator 702. This system permits the substitution of an inexpensiveresonator for a more expensive and less reliable electrical switch.

[0209] A neural network, or other pattern recognition system, can betrained to recognize certain people as permitted operators of a vehicle.In this case, if a non-recognized person attempts to operate thevehicle, the system can disable the vehicle and/or sound an alarm asillustrated in FIG. 18. In this figure the sensing transducers are shownas before as 231A, 232A and 233A, the alarm system schematically as 708and the alarm as 705. Since it is unlikely that an unauthorized operatorwill resemble the authorized operator, the neural network system can bequite tolerant of differences in appearance of the operator. The systemdefaults to where a key must be used in the case that the system doesn'trecognize the driver or the owner wishes to allow another person tooperate the vehicle. The transducers 231A, 232A and 233A are sensitiveto infrared radiation and the operator is illuminated with infraredwaves from transducer 231A. This is necessary due to the small size ofthe features which need to be recognized for high accuracy ofrecognition.

[0210] An alternate system uses an infrared laser, which can be 231A inFIG. 18, to illuminate the operator and a CCD or CMOS device, which canbe represented as 232A in FIG. 18, to receive the reflected image. Inthis case the recognition of the operator is accomplished using apattern recognition system such as described in Popesco, V. and Vincent,J. M. “Location of Facial Features Using a Boltzmann Machine toImplement Geometric Constraints”, Chapter 14 of Lisboa, P. J. G. andTaylor, M. J. Editors, Techniques and Applications of Neural Networks,Ellis Horwood Publishers, New York, 1993. In the present case a largerCCD element array containing 100,000 or more elements would in manycases be used instead of the 16 by 16 or 256 element CCD array used byPopesco and Vincent.

[0211] Once a vehicle interior monitoring system employing asophisticated pattern recognition system, such as a neural network orfuzzy logic system, is in place, it is possible to monitor the motionsof the driver over time and determine if he is falling asleep or hasotherwise become incapacitated. In such an event, the vehicle can becaused to respond in a number of different ways. One such system isillustrated in FIG. 19 and consists of a monitoring system havingtransducers 231, 232 and 233 plus microprocessor 101, such as shown inFIG. 7A, programmed to compare the motions of the driver over time andtrained to recognize changes in behavior representative of becomingincapacitated. If the system determines that there is a reasonableprobability that the driver has fallen asleep, for example, then it canturn on a warning light shown here as 805 or send a warning sound. Ifthe driver fails to respond to the warning by pushing a button 806, forexample, then the horn and lights can be operated in a manner to warnother vehicles and the vehicle brought to a stop. One novel approach,not shown, would be to use the horn as the button 806. For a momentarydepression of the horn, for this case, the horn would not sound.Naturally other responses can also be programmed.

[0212] An even more sophisticated system of monitoring the behavior ofthe driver is to track his eye motions using such techniques as aredescribed in: Freidman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,052 “Eye TrackerCommunication System”; Heyner et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,189 “EyePosition Sensor”; Hutchinson U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,670 “Eye MovementDetector”; and Hutchinson U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,069 “Eye Movement DetectorWith Improved Calibration and Speed”, all of which are included hereinby reference. The detection of the impaired driver in particular can bebest determined by these techniques. Also, in a similar manner asdescribed in these patents, the motion of the driver's eyes can be usedto control various systems in the vehicle permitting hands off controlof the entertainment system, heating and air conditioning system or allof the other systems described above. Although some of these systemshave been described in the patents mentioned above, none have made useof neural networks for interpreting the eye movements.

[0213]FIG. 20 shows a passenger seat 1 to which a seated-state detectingunit according to the present invention may be applied. The passengerseat 1 includes a horizontally situated seat portion 2 and a verticallyoriented back portion 3. The seat portion 2 is provided with one or moreweight sensors 6 and 7 which determine the weight of a passenger orobject occupying the passenger seat. The coupled portion between theseated portion 2 and the back portion 3 is provided with a recliningangle detecting sensor 9, which detects the tilted angle of the backportion 3 relative to the seat portion 2. The seat portion 2 is providedwith a seat track position detecting sensor 10. The seat track positiondetecting sensor 10 fulfills a role of detecting the quantity ofmovement of the seat 1 which is moved from a back reference position,indicated by the dotted chain line.

[0214] Weight measuring means such as the sensors 6 and 7 are associatedwith the seat, e.g., mounted into or below the seat portion 2, formeasuring the weight applied onto the seat. The weight may be zeroindicating that there is no occupant is present. Sensors 6 and 7 mayrepresent a plurality of different sensors which measure the weightapplied onto the seat at different portions thereof or for redundancypurposes, for example, such as by means of an airbag 5 in the seatportion 2. Such sensors may be in the form of force or pressure sensorswhich measure the force or pressure on the seat or seat back,displacement measuring sensors which measure the displacement of theseat surface or the entire seat such as through the use of strain gagesmounted on the seat structural members or other appropriate locations,or systems which convert displacement into a pressure wherein a pressuresensor can be used as a measure of weight.

[0215] As shown in FIG. 21, there are provided four sets of ultrasonicsensors 11-14 mounted at preferred locations within the passengercompartment. Each set of ultrasonic sensors 11-14 comprises atransmitter and a receiver, which may be integrated into a single unitor used as individual components separated from one another. In thisembodiment, the ultrasonic sensor 11 is mounted on the upper portion ofthe front pillar, A-Pillar, of the vehicle. The ultrasonic sensor 12 ismounted on the upper portion of the intermediate pillar, B-Pillar. Theultrasonic sensor 13 is mounted on the ceiling in the headliner. Theultrasonic sensor 14 is mounted near the middle of an instrument panel17 in front of the driver's seat 16. Although sensors 11-14 aredescribed as being ultrasonic sensors, the invention is equallyapplicable for other types of sensors which emit waves (other thanultrasonic waves) which will reflect from an object, or are modified byinteracting with an object, and can be received by appropriate receiversand the received waves processed as described below. The methodologyleading to the placement of these transducers is central to the instantinvention as explained in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/798,029 cross-referenced above.

[0216] Deployment of the airbag is enabled in the event that the vehicleexperiences a crash if the occupant is in position and the child seat isfacing forward. Sensors 11,14 and 12,13 are placed with their separationaxis parallel to the separation axis of the head, shoulder and rearfacing child seat volumes of an automotive passenger seat and in view ofthis specific positioning, are capable of distinguishing the differentconfigurations.

[0217] The ultrasonic sensors 11-14 are controlled or driven, one at atime or simultaneously, by an appropriate driver circuit such asultrasonic sensor driver circuit 18 shown in FIG. 22. The transmittersof the ultrasonic sensors 11-14 transmit respective ultrasonic wavestoward the passenger seat 1 and transmit pulses (see FIG. 23(a)) insequence at times t1, t2, t3 t4 (t4>t3>t2>t1). The reflected waves ofthe ultrasonic waves are received by the receivers ChA-ChD of theultrasonic sensors 11-14. The receiver ChA is associated with theultrasonic sensor 13, the receiver ChB is associated with the ultrasonicsensor 14, the receiver ChC is associated with the ultrasonic sensor 11,and the receiver ChD is associated with the ultrasonic sensor 12. Thereceivers and transmitters can be implemented using pairs of devices or,alternately, each device can be both a transmitter and a receiver.

[0218] FIGS. 23(b) and 23(c) show examples of the reflected ultrasonicwaves USRW that are received by receivers ChA-ChD. FIG. 23(c) shows anexample of the reflected wave USRW that is obtained when an adultpassenger sits in a normally seated space on the passenger seat 1, whileFIG. 23(b) shows an example of the reflected wave USRW that are obtainedwhen an adult passenger sits in a slouching state (one of the abnormalseated-states) in the passenger seat 1.

[0219] In the case of a normally seated passenger, as shown in FIG. 21,the location of the ultrasonic sensor 12 is closest to the passenger A(shown in FIG. 20). Therefore, the reflected wave pulse P1 is receivedearliest after transmission by the receiver ChD as shown in FIG. 23(c),and the width of the reflected wave pulse P1 is larger. Next, thedistance from the ultrasonic sensor 13 is closer to the passenger A, soa reflected wave pulse P2 is received earlier by the receiver ChAcompared with the remaining reflected wave pulses P3 and P4. Since thereflected wave pauses P3 and P4 take more time than the reflected wavepulses P1 and P2 to arrive at the receivers ChC and ChB, the reflectedwave pulses P3 and P4 are received as the timings shown in FIG. 23(c).More specifically, since it is believed that the distance from theultrasonic sensor 11 to the passenger A is slightly shorter than thedistance from the ultrasonic sensor 14 to the passenger A, the reflectedwave pulse P3 is received slightly earlier by the receiver ChC than thereflected wave pulse P4 is received by the receiver ChB.

[0220] In the case where the passenger A is sitting in a slouching statein the passenger seat 1, the distance between the ultrasonic sensor 11and the passenger A is shortest. Therefore, the time from transmissionat time t3 to reception is shortest, and the reflected wave pulse P3 isreceived by the receiver ChC, as shown in FIG. 23(b). Next, thedistances between the ultrasonic sensor 14 and the passenger A becomesshorter, so the reflected wave pulse P4 is received earlier by thereceiver ChB than the remaining reflected wave pulses P2 and P1. Whenthe distance from the ultrasonic sensor 13 to the passenger A iscompared with that from the ultrasonic sensor 12 to the passenger A, thedistance from the ultrasonic sensor 13 to the passenger A becomesshorter, so the reflected wave pulse P2 is received by the receiver ChAfirst and the reflected wave pulse P1 is thus received last by thereceiver ChD.

[0221] The configurations of the reflected wave pulses P1-P4 the timesthat the reflected wave pulses P1-P4 are received, the sizes of thereflected wave pulses P1-P4 are varied depending upon the configurationand position of an object such as a passenger situated on the frontpassenger seat 1. FIGS. 23(b) and 23(c) merely show examples for thepurpose of description and therefore it is a matter of course that thepresent invention is not limited to these examples.

[0222] The outputs of the receivers ChA-ChD, as shown in FIG. 22, areinput to a band pass filter 20 through a multiplex circuit 19 which isswitched in synchronization with a timing signal from the ultrasonicsensor drive circuit 18. The band pass filter 20 removes a low frequencywave component from the output signal based on each of the reflectedwave USRW and also removes some of the noise. The output signal based oneach of the reflected wave USRW is passed through the band pass filter20, then is amplified by an amplifier 21. The amplifier also removes thehigh frequency carrier wave component in each of the reflected USRW andgenerates an envelope wave signal. This envelope wave signal is input toan analog/digital converter (ADC) 22 and digitized as measured data. Themeasured data is input to a processing circuit 28, which is controlledby the timing signal which is in turn output from the ultrasonic sensordrive circuit 18.

[0223] With reference to FIG. 24, the processing circuit 23 collectsmeasured data at intervals of 7 ms, and 47 data points are generated foreach of the ultrasonic sensors 11-14. For each of these reflected wavesUSRW, the initial reflected wave portion T1 and the last reflected waveportion T2 are cut off. The reason for this will be described when thetraining procedure of a neural network circuit is described later, andthe description is omitted for now. With this, 32 data points, 31 datapoints, 37 data points, and 38 data points will be sampled by theultrasonic sensors 11, 12, 13 and 14, respectively. The reason why thenumber of data points differs for each of the ultrasonic sensors 11-14is that the distance from the passenger seat 1 to the ultrasonic sensors11-14 differ from one another.

[0224] Each of the measured data is input to a normalization circuit 24and normalized. The normalized measured data is input to the neuralnetwork circuit 25 as wave data.

[0225] The output of the weight sensors 6 or 7 is amplified by anamplifier 26 coupled to the weight sensors 6 or 7 and the amplifiedoutput is input to the analog/digital converter 27.

[0226] The reclining angle detecting sensor 9 and the seat trackposition detecting sensor 10, which each may comprise a variableresistor, are connected to constant-current circuits, respectively. Aconstant-current is supplied from the constant-current circuit to thereclining angle detecting sensor 9, and the reclining angle detectingsensor 9 converts a change in the resistance value on the tilt of theback portion 3 to a specific voltage. This output voltage is input to ananalog/digital converter 28 as angle data, i.e., representative of theangle between the back portion 3 and the seat portion 2. Similarly, aconstant current is supplied from the constant-current circuit to theseat track position detecting sensor 10 and the seat track positiondetecting sensor 10 converts a change in the resistance value based onthe track position of the seat portion 2 to a specific voltage. Thisoutput voltage is input to an analog/digital converter 29 as seat trackdata. Thus, the outputs of the reclining angle detecting sensor 9 andthe seat track position detecting sensor 10 are input to theanalog/digital converters 28 and 29, respectively. Each digital datavalue from the ADCs 28,29 is input to the neural network circuit 25.Although the digitized data of the weight sensors 6 or 7 is input to theneural network circuit 25, the output of the amplifier 26 is also inputto a comparison circuit. The comparison circuit, which is incorporatedin the gate circuit algorithm, determines whether or not the weight ofan object on the passenger seat 1 is more than a predetermined weight,such as 60 lbs., for example. When the weight is more than 60 lbs., thecomparison circuit outputs a logic 1 to the gate circuit to be describedlater. When the weight of the object is less than 60 lbs., a logic 0 isoutput to the gate circuit.

[0227] The neural network circuit 25 recognizes the seated-state of apassenger A by training as described in several books on Neural Networksreferenced in the above referenced patents and patent applications.Then, after training the seated-state of the passenger A and developingthe neural network weights, the system is tested. The training procedureand the test procedure of the neural network circuit 25 well hereafterbe described with a flowchart shown in FIG. 25.

[0228] As diagrammed in FIG. 25, the first step is to mount the foursets of ultrasonic sensors 11-14, the weight sensors 6 or 7, thereclining angle detecting sensor 9, and the seat track positiondetecting sensor 10 into a vehicle (step S-1). Next, in order to providedata for the neural network circuit 25 to learn the patterns of seatedstates, data is recorded for patterns of all possible seated states anda list is maintained recording the seated states for which data wasacquired. The data from the sensors/transducers 9-14, for a particularoccupancy of the passenger seat is called a vector (step S-2).

[0229] For the vectors of data, adults and children each with differentpostures, states of windows etc. within the passenger compartment, andchild seats were selected. The selected adults include people with avariety of different physiques such as fat, lean, small, large, tall,short, and glasses wearing persons. The selected children ranged from aninfant to a large child (for example, about 14 year old). In addition,the selected postures include, for example, a sitting state with legscrossed on a seat, a sitting state with legs on an instrument panel, asitting state while reading a newspaper, a book, or a map, a sittingstate while holding a cup of coffee, a cellular telephone or a dictationmachine, and a slouching state. Furthermore, the selected compartmentstates include variations in the seat track position, the window openingamount, headrest position, and varying positions of a sun-visor.Moreover, a multitude of different models of child seats are used in theforward facing position and, where appropriate, in a rear facingposition. The range of weights and the corresponding normalized valuesare as follows: Class Weight Range Normalized Value Empty seat   0 to2.2 lbs   0 to 0.01 Rear Facing Child Seat 2.2 to 60 lbs 0.01 to 0.27Forward Facing Child Seat 2.2 to 60 lbs 0.01 to 0.27 Forward FacingAdult (FFH) 60 lbs and greater 0.27 to 1

[0230] Obviously, other weight ranges may also be used in accordancewith the invention and each weight range may be tailored to specificconditions, such as different vehicles.

[0231] Various vehicle setups were prepared by a combination of thesevariations and, for in this embodiment, almost 500,000 or more vectorsshould be prepared for the patterns to be used as data for the neuralnetwork training.

[0232] Next, based on the training data from the reflected wavesobtained by the receivers ChA-ChD of the ultrasonic sensors 11-14 andfrom the other sensors, the vector data is collected (step S-3). Next,the reflected waves P1-P4 are modified by removing the initial reflectedwaves with a short reflection time from an object (period T1 in FIG. 24)and the last portion of the reflected waves with a long reflection timefrom an object (period T2 in FIG. 24) (step S-4). It is believed thatthe reflected waves with a short reflection time from an object is a dueto either cross-talk or transducer rining depending on whether separatesend and receive transducers or a single send and receive transducer isused. In the dual transducer case, as discussed in more detail below,waves from the transmitter travel directly to the receivers ChA-ChDwithout reflecting off of an object through a variety of possible paths.It is also believed that the reflected waves with a long reflection timeare reflected waves from an object far away from the passenger seat. Ifthese two reflected wave portions are used as data, they will add noiseto the training process. Therefore, these reflected wave portions areeliminated from the data.

[0233] As shown in FIG. 26(a), measured data is normalized by making thepeaks of the reflected wave pulses P1-P4 equal (step S-5). Thiseliminates the effects of different reflectivities of different objectsand people depending on the characteristics of their surfaces such astheir clothing Data from the weight sensor, seat track position sensorand seat reclining angle sensor are also normalized based typically onfixed normalization parameters.

[0234] Therefore, the normalized data from the ultrasonic receiversChA-ChD of the sensors 11-14, from the seat track position detectingsensor 10, from the reclining angle detecting sensor 9, and from theweight sensors 6 or 7 are input to the neural network circuit 25, andthe neural network circuit 25 is then trained on this data. Morespecifically, the neural network circuit 25 adds up the normalized datafrom the ultrasonic receivers ChA-Ch-D of the sensors 11-14, from theseat track position detecting sensor 10, from the reclining angledetecting sensor 9, and from the weight sensors 6 and 7, with each datapoint multiplied by an associated weight according to the conventionalneural network process to determine correlation function (step S-6).

[0235] In this embodiment, 141 data points are appropriatelyinterconnected at 25 connecting points of layer 1, and each data pointis mutually correlated through the neural network training and weightdetermination process. The 141 data points consist of 138 measured datapoints from the ultrasonic transducers, the data (139th) from the seattrack position detecting sensor 10, the data (140th) from the recliningangle detecting sensor 9, and the data (141st) from the weight sensor(s)6. Each of the connecting points of the layer 1 has an appropriatethreshold value, and if the sum of measured data exceeds the thresholdvalue, each of the connecting points will output a signal to theconnecting points of layer 2.

[0236] The connecting points of the layer 2 comprises 20 points, and the25 connecting points of the layer 1 are appropriately interconnected asthe connecting points of the layer 2. Similarly, each data is mutuallycorrelated through the training process and weight determination asdescribed above and in the above referenced neural network texts. Eachof the 20 connecting points of the layer 2 has an appropriate thresholdvalue, and if the sum of measured data exceeds the threshold value, eachof the connecting points will output a signal to the connecting pointsof layer 3.

[0237] The connecting points of the layer 3 comprises 3 points, and theconnecting points of the layer 2 are interconnected at the connectingpoints of the layer 3 so that each data is mutually correlated asdescribed above. If the sum of the outputs of the connecting points oflayer 2 exceeds a threshold value, the connecting points of the latter 3will output Logic values (100), (010), and (001) respectively.

[0238] The threshold value of each connecting point is determined bymultiplying weight coefficients and summing up the results in sequence,and the aforementioned training process is to determine a weightcoefficient Wj so that the threshold value (ai) is a previouslydetermined output.

ai=ΣWj·Xj(j=1 to N)

[0239] wherein

[0240] Wj is the weight coefficient,

[0241] Xj is the data and

[0242] N is the number of samples.

[0243] Based on this result of the training, the neural network circuit25 generates the weights for the coefficients of the correlationfunction or the algorithm (step S-7).

[0244] At the time the neural network circuit 25 has learned a suitablenumber of patterns of the training data, the result of the training istested by the independent test data. In the case where the rate ofcorrect answers of the seated-state detecting unit based on this testdata is unsatisfactory, the neural network circuit is further trainedand the test is repeated. In this embodiment, the test was performedbased on about 200,000 independent test patterns. When the rate ofcorrect test result answers was at about 98%, the training was ended.

[0245] The Neural ware neural network software operates as follows. Thetraining data is used to determine the weights which multiply the valuesat the various nodes at the lower level when they are combined at nodesat a higher level. Once a sufficient number of iterations has beenaccomplished, the independent data is used to check the network. If theaccuracy of the network using the independent data is lower than thelast time that it was checked using the independent data then theprevious weights are substituted for the new weights and training of thenetwork continues on a different path. Thus, although the independentdata is not used to train the network, it does strongly affect theweights. It is therefore not really independent. Also, both the trainingdata and the independent data are created so that all occupancy statesare roughly equally represented. As a result, a third set of data isused which is structured to more closely represent the real world ofvehicle occupancy. This third data set, the “real world” data, is thenused to arrive at a figure as to the real accuracy of the system.

[0246] The neural network circuit 25 has outputs 25 a, 25 b and 25 c.Each of the outputs 25 a, 25 b and 25 c outputs a signal of logic 0 or 1to a gate circuit or algorithm 30. Based on the signals from the outputs25 a, 25 b and 25 c, any one of these combination (100), (010) and (001)is obtained. In another preferred embodiment, all data for the emptyseat was removed from the training set and the empty seat case wasdetermined based on the output of the weight sensor alone. Thissimplifies the neural network and improves its accuracy.

[0247] In this embodiment, the output (001) correspond to an empty seat(ES), the output (010) corresponds to a rear facing child seat (RFCS) oran out-of-position passenger (OOP), and the output (100) corresponds toa normally seated forward facing human (FFH) or a forward facing childseat (FFCS).

[0248] The gate circuit (seated-state evaluation circuit) 30 can beimplemented by an electronic circuit or by a computer algorithm by thoseskilled in the art and the details will not be presented here. Thefunction of the gate circuit 30 is to remove the ambiguity thatsometimes results when ultrasonic sensors and seat position sensorsalone are used. This ambiguity is that it is sometimes difficult todifferentiate between a rear facing child seat (RFCS) and anout-of-position passenger (OOP), or between a forward facing human (FFH)or a forward facing child seat (FFCS). By the addition of one or moreweight sensors in the function of acting as a switch when the weight isabove or below 60 lbs, it has been found that this ambiguity can beeliminated. The gate circuit therefore takes into account the output ofthe neural network and also the weight from the weight sensor(s) asbeing above or below 60 lbs and thereby separates the two cases justdescribed and results in five discrete outputs.

[0249] The use of weight data must be heavily filtered since duringdriving conditions, especially on rough roads or during an accident, theweight sensors will give highly varying output. The weight sensors,therefore, are of little value during the period of time leading up toand including a crash and their influence must be minimized during thistime period. One way of doing this is to average the data over a longperiod of time such as from 5 seconds to a minute or more.

[0250] Thus, the gate circuit 30 fulfills a role of outputting fivekinds of seated-state evaluation signals, based on a combination ofthree kinds of evaluation signals from the neural network 25 andsuperimposed information from the weight sensor(s). The fiveseated-state evaluation signals are input to an airbag deploymentdetermining circuit that is part of the airbag system and will not bedescribed here. Naturally, as disclosed in the above reference patentsand patent applications, the output of this system can also be used toactivate a variety of lights or alarms to indicate to the operator ofthe vehicle the seated state of the passenger. Naturally, the systemthat has been here described for the passenger side is also applicablefor the most part for the driver side.

[0251] In this embodiment, although the neural network circuit 25 hasbeen employed as an evaluation circuit, the mapping data of thecoefficients of a correlation function may also be implemented ortransferred to a microcomputer to constitute the valuation circuit (seeStep S 8 in FIG. 25).

[0252] According to the seated-state detecting unit of the presentinvention, the identification of an empty seat (ES), a rear facing childseat( RFCS), a forward facing child seat (RFCS), a forward facing human(FFH), an out-of-position adult passenger (OOP), can be reliablyperformed.

[0253] A section of the passenger compartment of an automobile is showngenerally as 900 in FIG. 27 which is a perspective view of the interiorof the passenger compartment showing a variety of transmitters andreceivers, 901-907 which illustrate general transducer mountinglocations. Seven transmitter and receiver assemblies 901 through 907,also referred to herein as transducers, are positioned in the passengercompartment 920. This figure illustrates some of the preferred locationsfor such transducers. Since the ceiling and headliner have been removedfrom this figure, it was not possible to show other preferred mountinglocations in the headliner.

[0254] The discussion above has centered on determining whether the twotarget volumes, that adjacent the airbag and that adjacent the upperportion of the vehicle seat, are occupied. Other systems have beendescribed in the above referenced patents using a sensor mounted on oradjacent the airbag module and a sensor mounted high in the vehicle tomonitor the space near the vehicle seat. Such systems use the sensors asindependent devices and do not use the combination of the two sensors tolocate where the object is located. In fact, the location of suchsensors is usually poorly chosen so that it is easy blind either or bothwith a newspaper, for example. Furthermore, no system has heretoforebeen disclosed, except in patent applications assigned to the assigneeof this invention, which uses two or more transducers in such a mannerthat one or more can be blocked without causing serious deterioration ofthe system. Again, the examples here have been for the purpose ofsuppressing the deployment of the airbag when it is necessary to preventinjury. The sensor system disclosed can be used for many other purposessuch as disclosed above. The ability to use the sensors for these otherapplications is generally lacking in the systems disclosed in the otherreferenced patents not assigned to the same company as the instantinvention.

[0255] More detail on the operation of the transducers and controlcircuitry as well as the neural network is provided in the abovereferenced patent applications and is included herein as if the entiretext of those patents were reproduced here. One particular example of asuccessful neural network had 78 input nodes, 6 hidden nodes and oneoutput node. The weights of the network were determined by supervisedtraining as described in the referenced patent applications and in moredetail in the references cited therein.

[0256] In most of the applications described above, a single ultrasonicfrequency was used to illuminate various occupying items of thepassenger compartment. This was for illustrative purposes only and thisinvention is not limited to single frequency illuminination. In manyapplications, it is useful to use several discrete frequencies or a bandof frequencies. In this manner considerably greater information isreceived from the reflected illumination permitting greaterdiscrimination between different classes of objects. In general eachobject will have somewhat different reflectivities at each frequency,although in many cases the effect may be small.

[0257] Improvements to Ultrasonic VIMS Systems

[0258] The illustrations presented so far have been similar to thosepresented in the above referenced patent applications. Some of the keydifferences will now be discussed.

[0259] Thermal Gradients

[0260] Thermal gradients can affect the propagation of sound within avehicle interior in at least two general ways. These have been termed“long-term” and “short-term” thermal instability. When ultrasound wavestravel through a region of varying air density, the direction the wavestravel can be bent in much the same way that light waves are bent whengoing through the waves of a swimming pool resulting in varyingreflection patterns off of the bottom.

[0261] Long-term instability is caused when a stable theriimal gradientoccurs in the vehicle as happens, for example, when the sun beats downon the vehicle's roof and the windows are closed. This effect can bereproduced in vehicles in laboratory tests using a heat lamp within thevehicle. The effect has been largely eliminated through training theneural network with data taken when the gradient is present.Additionally, changes in the electronics hardware including greatersignal strength and a log amplifier, as discussed below, has eliminatedthe effect.

[0262] Short-term instability results when there is a flow of hot orcold air within the vehicle, such as caused by operating the heater whenthe vehicle is cold, or the air conditioner when the vehicle is hot.Bench tests have demonstrated that a combination of greater signalstrength and a logarithmic amplification of the return signal cansubstantially reduce the variability of the reflected ultrasound signalfrom a target caused by short term instability. As with the long-terminstability, it is important to train the neural network with thiseffect present. When the combination of these hardware changes andtraining is used, the short-term thermal instability is substantiallyreduced. If the data from five or more consecutive vectors is averagedthe effect becomes insignificant, see pre and post-processingdescriptions below. A vector is the combined digitized data from thefour transducers, which is imputed into the neural network as describedabove.

[0263] Different techniques for compensating for thermal gradients arelisted below.

[0264] 1. Logarithimic Compression Amplifier

[0265] One method that has proven to be successful in reducing theeffects of both short and long term thermal instability is to use a logcompression amplifier, also referred to as a log compression amplifiercircuit. A log compression amplifier is a general term used here toindicate an amplifier that amplifies the small return signals more thanthe large signals. Thus, there is a selective amplification of signals.This is coupled with changes to the circuit to increase the signalstrength level of the return signal. The increase in signal strength canbe accomplished in several ways, for example, by an increase in thetransducer drive voltage, which results in a higher sound pressurelevel, or by generally increasing the gain of the amplifier of thereturn signal. A circuit diagram showing a method of approximatelycompensating for the drop-off in signal strength due to the distancebetween the target and the transducer is shown in FIG. 41. In bothcases, if the log compression amplifier were not present, the analog todigital converter (ADC) would saturate on many of the reflected waves.The log compression amplifier prevents this by amplifying the higherreturn signals less than the lower signals in such a manner as toprevent this saturation. The log compression amplifier thus precedes theADC is the signal processing arrangement. FIG. 28 illustrates a circuitthat performs a quasi-logarithmic compression amplification of thereturn signal.

[0266] The log compression amplifier receives the signals from theultrasonic receivers and selectively amplifies them and directs theamplified signals to the ADC. The use of a log compression amplifierbetween ultrasonic receivers and ADCs in a vehicular occupantidentification and position detecting system provides significantadvantages over prior art occupant identification and position detectingsystems.

[0267] The operation of the quasi-logarithmic compression amplifiercircuit shown on FIG. 28 is as follows:

[0268] (1) The echo detected by the ultrasonic transducer is amplifiedby stage U1.

[0269] (2) The function of stage U2 is to vary the gain of the amplifierwith time to compensate for the signal attenuation with distance (time)of the echo reflected from various surfaces. P1 (3) The actualcompression circuit is accomplished by U4, capacitor C1 and inductor L1with the associated resistor diode network consisting of diodes D1through D14 and resistors R1 through R5.

[0270] (4) C1 and L1 are tuned to the operating frequency of thetransducer, typically between 40 and 80 kHz.

[0271] (5) For small signals, the diodes do not conduct and thereforethe gain is at the maximum since there is no loading of the tunedcircuit. Thus, the amplification is high.

[0272] (6) When the signal is high enough for diodes D1, D3 and D2, D4to conduct resistor R5 shunts the tuned circuit lowering the Q andreducing the gain. Q is a measure of resonance capability of atransducer whereby a low Q is indicative of a weak resonance and a highQ is indicative of high resonance. D1, D3 and D2, D4 are connected backto back so that the negative half cycle has the same gain as thepositive half cycle.

[0273] (7) When the signal increases more, diode D5 and D6 will conductshunting the tuned circuit with R4 as well as R5, which further reducesthe gain of the stage.

[0274] (8) When the signal increases more, diode D7 and D8 will conductshunting the tuned circuit with R3 as well as R4 and R5, which furtherreduces the gain of the stage.

[0275] (9) When the signal increases more, diode D11 and D12 willconduct shunting the tuned circuit with R1 as well as R2 and R3 and R4and R5 which further reduces the gain of the stage.

[0276] (10) When the signal increases more, all of the diodes willconduct and the resistance of the diodes will shunt the resistorslowering the gain.

[0277] (11) The diodes are connected back to back so that the positiveand negative half cycles will be compressed equally.

[0278] (12) The circuit can be temperature stabilized by maintaining thediodes at a constant temperature using apparatus known to those skilledin the art.

[0279] (13) The amount of compression can be changed by changingresistor values.

[0280] (14) The range of the circuit may be changed by changing thenumber of diodes and resistors in the network.

[0281] (15) The output of the network is buffered by a high impedancecircuit with a buffer stage U3.

[0282] (16) U3 may be made into a demodulator by adding a diode and aresistor in the buffer stage.

[0283] The component designated AD8031A in FIG. 28 is a wide bandwidthrail to rail in and out operational amplifier. This operationalamplifier and data sheets therefor may be obtained from Analog Devices,Incorporated.

[0284] Naturally, other circuits and other mathematical functions can beused as long as they amplify the lower level signals more than thehigher level signals. In particular, a similar effect can be achieved byclipping the higher level signals, that is, by eliminating all returnsignal amplitudes above a certain value. When ultrasonic sensors areused in a pure ranging mode when thermal instabilities are present, ithas been found that the location of a reflected signal is substantiallyinvariable, providing the object is not moving, whereas the magnitude ofthe reflection may vary by factors of 10 or 100. It may sometimes bedifficult to distinguish an actual return from the desired object fromnoise. Such noise may also be invariant in that it may be the result ofreflections off of surfaces that are at substantial angles off of theaxis of the transducer. These reflections are normally ignored sincethey are generally small in comparison with the main reflection. Whenthermal instabilities are present, however, these reflections can becomesignificant relative to the main reflected pulse. One method ofcompensating for this effect is to average the returned amplitudes overa number of cycles. During dynamic out of position cases, however, thereis not sufficient time to perform this averaging and each cycle must beevaluated independently of the other cycles. Using the selectiveamplification techniques described above, the apparent variation in thesignal is substantially reduced and therefore the effects of the thermalinstabilities are substantially eliminated. Again, there are manymethods of accomplishing the desired result as long as the magnitude ofthe large reflected signals and reduced relative to the small reflectedsignals.

[0285] 2. Training Method with Heat

[0286] Since neural networks are preferably used herein as a patternrecognition system to differentiate occupancy conditions within thevehicle, it is quite straightforward to take data with and without thelong-term and short-term thermal effects discussed above. The fact thatthe neural network can find and use the information within the data isnot obvious since, especially in the short-term case, the reflectedsignals from the vehicle interior can vary significantly with time.Nevertheless, the neural network has proven that sufficient informationis generally present to make an identification decision. Although neuralnetworks are the preferred method of solving this problem, it ispossible to use other pattern recognition systems, such as the sensorfusion system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,314 to Corrado et al,using data taken with and without the thermal instabilities, resultingin a more accurate system than would be otherwise achievable.

[0287] Accordingly, a neural network for determining the position of anobject in a vehicle can be generated in accordance with the invention byconducting a plurality of data generation steps, each data generatingsteps comprising the steps of placing an object in the passengercompartment of the vehicle, irradiating at least a portion of thepassenger compartment in which the object is situated (with ultrasonicwaves from an ultrasonic transducer), receiving reflected radiation fromthe object at a receiver, and forming a data set of a signalrepresentative of the reflected radiation from the object, the distancefrom the object to the receiver and the temperature of the passengercompartment between the object and the receiver. Then, the temperatureof the air in the passenger compartment, or at least in the area betweenthe object and the receiver, is changed, and the irradiation step,radiation receiving step and data set forming step are performed for theobject at different temperatures between the object and the receiver.Thereafter, a pattern recognition algorithm, e.g., a neural network, isgenerated from the data sets such that upon operational input of asignal representative of reflected radiation from the object, thealgorithm provides an approximation of the distance from the object tothe receiver. By using a plurality of ultrasonic transducers, thecontour or configuration of the object can be established therebyenabling the position of the object to be obtained.

[0288] In an enhanced embodiment, different objects are used to form thedata and the identity of the object is included in the data set suchthat upon operational input of a signal representative of reflectedradiation from the object, the algorithm provides an approximation ofthe identity of the object. Further, the objects can be placed indifferent positions in the passenger compartment so that both theidentity and actual position of the object are included in the data set.As such, upon operational input of a signal representative of reflectedradiation from the object, the algorithm provides an approximation ofthe identity and position of the object. In the alternative, a singleobject can be placed in different positions in the passenger compartmentso that the actual position of the object is included in the data set.As such, upon operational input of a signal representative of reflectedradiation from the object, the algorithm provides an approximation ofthe position of the object. The temperature of the air may be changed bydynamically changing the temperature of the air, e.g., by introducing aflow of blowing air at a different temperature than the ambienttemperature of the passenger compartment. The blowing air flow may becreated by operating a vehicle heater or air conditioner of the vehicle.The temperature of the air may also be changed by creating a temperaturegradient between a top and a bottom of the passenger compartment.

[0289] The generation of a trained neural network in consideration ofthe temperature between the object and the ultrasonic receiver(s) can beused in conjunction with any of the other methods disclosed herein forimproving the accuracy of the determination of the identity and positionof an object. For example, the ultrasonic transducers can be arranged ina tubular mounting structure, the ringing of the transducers can bereduced or even completely suppressed and the transducer conemechanically damped.

[0290] 3. Single Transducer Send and Receive

[0291] When standard piezoelectric ceramic ultrasonic transducers, suchas manufactured by MuRata, are used, and excited with a driving pulse ofa few cycles, the transducer rings (continues to vibrate and emitultrasound like a bell) for a considerable period after the drivingpulse has stopped. In one common case, eight cycles were used to drivethe transducer at 40 kHz and, even though the driving pulse was over atabout 0.2 milliseconds, the transducer was still ringing at 1.3milliseconds. Thus, if a single transducer is to be used for bothsending and receiving the ultrasonic waves, it is unable to sense thereflected waves from a target that is closer than about eight to twelveinches. In many situations within the vehicle, important targets arecloser than eight inches and thus transducers must be used in pairs, onefor sending and the other for receiving. This is less of a problem whenpiezo-film or electrostatic transducers are used, but such transducershave other significant problems related to temperature sensitivity, thegenerated signal strength and physical size.

[0292] Another point worth noting is that when a piezo-ceramictransducer is used with a horn, as described elsewhere in thisspecification, the location of the transducer in the horn is criticallyimportant. As the transducer is moved further into and out of the baseof the horn, the field pattern of ultrasonic radiation changes. At theproper location, the main pattern generally has the widest field angleand the radiation pattern is characterized by the absence of side lobesof ultrasonic radiation. That is, all of the energy is confined to themain field. Side lobes can cause several undesirable effects. Inparticular, when the transducers are used in pairs, one for sending andthe other for receiving, the lobes contribute to cross-talk between thetwo transducers reducing the ability to measure objects close to thetransducer. Also, side lobes frequently send ultrasonic energy intoplaces in the passenger compartment where undesirable reflectionsresult. In one case, for example, reflections from the driver wererecorded. In another case reflections from adjacent fixed surfaces such,as the instrument panel (IP) or headliner surface, were received withthe effect that when new IP and headliner parts were used, thereflection patterns changed and the system accuracy was significantlydegraded. When reflections, either directly or indirectly, occur fromsuch surfaces, the ability to transfer the system from one vehicle toanother identical vehicle is compromised.

[0293] A. Damped Transducer

[0294] The ringing problem described above is related to the Q (ameasure of the resonance capability of the transducer) of the device,which is typically in the range of 10 to 20 for piezo-ceralnictransducers. Attempts to add damping to the transducer have proven to bedifficult to manufacture. A primary transducer supplier, for example,declines to supply transducers with greater damping or lower Q. Inaddition, many attempts to add damping have been reported in the patentliterature with limited success. Experiments have determined, however,that if the damping material is placed in the transducer cone as shownin FIG. 29, in a manner as described herein, the damping can beaccurately controlled. The greater the amount of the damping material,which is typically a silicone rubber compound, the greater the damping,with the hardness or durometer of the rubber playing a lesser butsignificant role.

[0295] If the cone is entirely filled with a preferred compound, toomuch damping may result for some applications depending on the material.However, if the rubber is diluted with a solvent in the properproportions, the cone can be filled with the diluted mixture and theproper residue will result after the solvent evaporates. In this manner,not only can the proper amount of damping material be administered, butalso the resulting uniform coating is desirable. One preferred compoundis silicone RTV diluted with Xylene. By this method, a surpassinglyconsistently damped transducer is achieved. Naturally other dampingcompounds can be used and different methods of achieving an accurateamount of damping material within the cone can be developed.Additionally, damping material can be placed on other parts of thetransducer to achieve similar results. Another approach is toincorporate another plate parallel to, but on the opposite side of, thepiezoelectric material from the resonating disk in the transducerassembly, such as one made from tungsten, which serves to reduce thetransducer Q. However, the placement within the cone has had the bestresults and therefore is preferred.

[0296]FIG. 30 illustrates the superimposed reflections from a targetplaced at three distances from the transducer, 9 cm, 50 cm and 1 meterrespectively for a single send and receive transducer with a damped coneas described above. FIG. 31 illustrates the superimposed reflectionsfrom a target placed at 16.4 cm, 50 cm and 1 meter respectively for atransducer without a damped cone. The upper curves represent theenvelopes of the returned signals. In each case the returned signalsfrom the closest target are shown in the lower curves.

[0297] Several distinct differences are evident. The closest that couldbe achieved without the ringing pulse overwhelming the reflected targetpulse was 9 cm for the damped case and 18.4 cm for the undamped case.The undamped case also exhibited several unwanted signals that do notrepresent reflections from the target and could confuse the neuralnetwork. No such unwanted reflections were evident in the damped case.The 9 cm target reflection is clearly evident in the damped case whilethe 16.4 reflection interfered with the ringing signal in the undampedcase. In both cases, the logarithmic amplifier was turned on after 600microseconds as described below

[0298] B. Transducer in a Tube

[0299] Another method of achieving a single transducer send and receiveassembly is to place the transducer into a tube with the length of thetube determined by the distance required for the ringing to subside andthe closest required sensing distance. That is, the length of tube isequal to the distance required for the ringing to subside less theclosest required sensing distance. In this situation, since the combinedlength of the tube and closest required sensing distance is equal to thedistance required for the ringing to subside, the ringing will subsideat the start of the operative sensing distance. For example, if theminimum target sensing distance is 4 inches and 8 inches is required forthe ringing to subside, then the tube can be made 4 inches long. The useof a tube as a conduit for ultrasound is disclosed in DuVall et al. U.S.Pat. No. 5,629,681 entitled δTubular Ultrasonic Displacement Sensor”.

[0300] DuVall et al. shows a displacement sensor and switch including atube which function based on the detection of a constriction in the tubecaused by an external object. The sensor or switch is placed, e.g.,across a road to count vehicles, along a vehicular window, door, sunroofand trunk to detect an obstruction in the closing of the same, and in avehicle door for use as a crash sensor. In all of these situations, thetube must be placed in a position in which it might be compressed orconstricted by the external object since such compression orconstriction is essentially to the operation of the sensor or switch.The tube is used as a conduit for transmitting sonic waves. A sonictransducer is arranged at both ends of the tube or at only one end ofthe tube. Sonic energy is directed from a transmitting transducer intothe tube and received by a receiving transducer. If the tube iscompressed (deflected) or obstructed, a change in the received sonicenergy is detected and the location of the compression or obstructioncan be determined therefrom.

[0301] A variety of examples of a transducer in a tube design areillustrated in FIGS. 32A-32F. A straight tube 52 with an exponentialhorn 52A is illustrated in FIG. 32A. FIGS. 32B and 32C illustrate thebending of the tube 52 through 40 degrees and 90 degrees, respectively.FIG. 32D illustrates the incorporation of a single loop 52B and FIG. 32Eof multiple loops 52C, which can be used to achieve a significant tubelength in a confined space. It has been found that there is about a 3-dBdrop in signal intensity that occurs when transmitting through an 8-inchtube having the same diameter as the transducer and no significanteffect has been observed from coiling the tube. A surprising result,however, is that very little additional attenuation occurs even if thetube diameter is substantially decreased providing care is taken in thelead in of the ultrasound into the tube. Thus, it is possible to use atube which has perhaps a diameter of half that of the transducer willlittle additional signal loss. This fact substantially facilitates theimplementation of this concept since space in the A and B pillars andthe headliner is limited.

[0302] A smaller tube 52D is illustrated in FIG. 32F where the tube isnow shown to have a straight shape however it can be easily bent toadjust to the space available. FIG. 32D and FIG. 32E illustrates atransducer assembly similar to FIG. 32A but wherein the tube is nowcoiled and can be molded as two parts and later joined togetherpermitting the assembly to occupy a small space. Thus, now the singletransducer send and receive assembly not only permits measurements ofobjects very close to the mounting surface, the headliner for example,but the assembly need not occupy significantly more space than theoriginal two transducer design. Naturally, there is a substantial costsaving since only a single transducer is required and only a single pairof wires also is needed. A mounting device is required in any case andthe design of FIG. 32E is no more expensive that the earlier mountinghardware design which needed to accommodate two transducers. Thus, asubstantial improvement in performance has been achieved with theadditional benefit of a substantial reduction in cost.

[0303] Care must be taken in the design of the tube assembly since thereflections of the waves back into the tube at the end of the tubedepend on the ratio of the tube diameter to the wavelength. The smallerthe tube the greater the reflection. If the tube diameter is greaterthan one wavelength, less than one percent of the energy will bereflected but this still may be large compared with the reflection offof a distant target. One method of partially solving this problem isthrough the use of a wave pattern shaping horn as disclosed below andillustrated in FIGS. 32A-32F.

[0304] 4. Delay in Turning on the Logarithmic Compression Amplifier

[0305] If the return signal logarithmic compression amplifier is turnedon at the time that the transducer is being driven, in some designs, thecombination of the very strong driving pulse and the signal smoothingeffect of the amplifier can cause a feed forward effect. This creates aninterference with the signal being received making it more difficult tomeasure reflections from objects close to the transducer. It has beenfound that if the start of the amplifier is delayed for a fraction of amillisecond the ability to measure close objects is improved. This isillustrated in FIG. 33 where the effects of three different cases isshown for the standard 40 kHz undamped ultrasonic transducer.

[0306] 5. Electronic Damping

[0307] Although the use of a Colpits oscillator is well known in the artof buzzers, such as used in alarms on watches where energyconsiderations require that the buzzer be driven at its naturalfrequency, such oscillators have heretofore not been applied toultrasonic transducers. Particularly, the Colpits oscillator has notbeen used in a circuit for electronically reducing and preferablysuppressing the motion of the transducer cone 62 and thereby eliminatingthe ringing. The principle, as illustrated in FIGS. 34A and 34B, is touse a separate small, auxiliary transducer 60, which could be formed aspart of the main transducer 66, for the purpose of measuring the motionof the main transducer 66. This auxiliary transducer 60 monitors themotion of the resonator 64 and provides the information to feedback toappropriate electronic circuitry. Transducer 60 may be donut-shaped orbar-shaped or an isolated section of the ceramic of the main transducer66. This feedback is used during the driving phase to ascertain that thetransducer is being driven at its natural frequency. The separatetransducer also permits exact monitoring of the transducer motion afterthe driving phase permitting an inverted signal to be used to reversedrive the transducer, i.e., mechanically dampen the resonator 64,thereby stopping its motion. This design requires some addedcomplication to the transducer and circuitry but provides the optimumreduction or suppression and thus the closest approach to the transducerby a target.

[0308] In addition to the Colpits oscillator, another design that mayalso have application to solving this problem and is known in the art isthe Hartley oscillator.

[0309] By reducing or eliminating the ringing, all of these dampingmethods provide better control over the total number of pulses that aresent to the passenger compartment. This results in a sharper image ofthe contents of the passenger compartment and thus more accurateinformation.

[0310] An alternate method of eliminating the ringing is illustrated inFIG. 35. In this case, the natural frequency of each transducer issensed and the drive circuitry is tuned to drive the transducer exactlyat its natural frequency. Once the natural frequency is known, however,then, based on some trial and error development, a sequence of pulses isderived which is fed into the transducer drive circuit with reversedpolarity to counteract the motion of the transducer and quickly reduceor suppress its oscillations. Thus, by this method the same results asare achieved from the Colpits design with a much simpler implementationthat does not require an additional sensing element to be designed intothe transducer or the additional wires to the transducer that are neededin the Colpits design. Note that the waveforms in FIG. 35 are shown assquare waves whereas they are in fact sine waves. Also note that theringing has been shown as shorter than the drive pulse whereas in factit can last four to five times longer depending on the transducerdesign. With the implementation of the technique disclosed here, theperiod of the ringing is reduced to about 10% of what is typicallypresent in the standard transducer.

[0311] 6. Field Shaping

[0312] The purpose of an ultrasonic occupant sensing system is totransmit ultrasonic waves into the passenger compartment and from thereceived reflected waves determine the occupancy state of the vehicle.Thus, waves that do not reflect off of surfaces of interest, such as thedriver (when the passenger side is being monitored) and the instrumentpanel (IP) and headliner as discussed above, add noise to the system. Inthe worst case, they can interfere with or mask other importantreflected signals. For this reason, significant improvements to theoccupant sensing system can be achieved by carefully controlling theshape of the ultrasonic fields emitted by each of the transducers.

[0313] A. Horns

[0314] A horn is generally required especially when transferring theultrasound waves from the tube to the passenger compartment. The angleof radiation from the tube without the horn would be quite large sendingradiation into areas where no desired object would occupy. Since thehorn can now be arbitrarily shaped, the radiation angle can not only bemade narrower but can be arbitrarily elliptically shaped so as to coverthe desired volume in the most efficient manner. An example of a horn 54shaped to create an elliptical pattern is illustrated in FIG. 36A (theopening at the end of the tube being elliptical) whereas the ellipticalpattern 54A created by the horn 54 is shown in FIG. 36B. Heretofore, theoutput from the transducer had to be baffled or blocked so that it didnot receive reflections from the rear seat or the driver, for example.This was wasteful of energy and required additional hardware and thusincreased the cost of the installation.

[0315] The horn may be a part of the tube, i.e., formed as a unitarystructure, or formed as a separate unit and then attached to the tube.Generally, the transducer would be mounted in a cylindrical tube and thehorn would begin right at the end of the cylindrical tube. As such, thehorn starts out as being cylindrical in the vicinity of the transducerand then expands into the horn. The tube does not have to be cylindricalbut may have other forms.

[0316] B. Reflective Mode

[0317] An alternate method of achieving the desired field shape is touse a reflector. This has the advantage that more control of the soundwaves can be achieved through the careful shaping of the reflectorsurface as illustrated in FIGS. 37, 38 and 39. FIG. 37 illustrates thereflection off of a flat plane 56A, FIG. 38 illustrates the reflectionoff of a concave surface 56B and FIG. 39 illustrates the reflection offof a convex surface 56C, respectively. The figures illustrate theextremes of reflections that can be achieved and permit a great deal offreedom in the design of the resulting field patterns. The designproblem is significantly more complicated than appears from the figures,however. Since the dimensions of the reflectors are of the same order ofmagnitude as the wave length of the ultrasound, simple ray tracing, asshown in the figures, will not produce accurate results and an accuratecomputer model, or extensive trial and error testing, is required.

[0318] 7. Neural Network Improvements/Dual Level ANN

[0319] A dual level neural network architecture has proven advantageousin improving categorization accuracy and to prepare for the next leveloccupant sensing system that includes Dynamic Out-of-Positionmeasurements (DOOP).

[0320] An occupant can move from a position safely displaced from theairbag to a position where he or she can be seriously injured by thedeployment of an airbag within a fraction of a second during pre crashbraking, for example. On the other hand, it takes a substantially longertime period to change the seat occupancy state from a forward facingperson to a rear facing child seat, or even from a forward facing childseat to a rear facing child seat. This fact can be used in thediscrimination process through post processing algorithms. One method,which also prepares for DOOP, is to use a two layered neural network ortwo separate neural networks. The first one categorizes the seatoccupancy into, for example, (1) empty seat, (2) rear facing child seat,(3) forward facing child seat and (4) forward facing human (not in achild seat). The second is used for occupant position determination. Inthe implementation, the same input layer can be used for both neuralnetworks but separate hidden and output layers are used. This isillustrated in FIG. 40 which is similar to FIG. 26B with the addition ofa post processing operation for both the categorization and positionnetworks and the separate hidden layer nodes for each network.

[0321] If the categorization network determines that either a category(3) or (4) exists, then the second network is run, which determines thelocation of the occupant. Significant averaging of the vectors is usedfor the first network and substantial evidence is required before theoccupancy class is changed. For example, if data is acquired every 10milliseconds, the first network might be designed to require 600 out of1000 changed vectors before a change of state is determined. In thiscase, at least 6 seconds of confirming data would be required. Such asystem would therefore not be fooled by a momentary placement of anewspaper by a forward facing human, for example, that might look like arear-facing child seat.

[0322] If, on the other hand, a forward facing human were chosen, his orher position would be determined every 10 milliseconds. A decision thatthe occupant had moved out of position would not necessarily be madefrom one 10 millisecond reading unless that reading was consistent withprevious readings. Nevertheless, a series of consistent readings wouldlead to a decision within 10 milliseconds of when the occupant crossedover into the danger zone proximate to the airbag module. This method ofusing history is used to eliminate the effects of temperature gradients,for example, or other events that could temporarily distort one or morevectors. The algorithms which perform this analysis are part of the postprocessor.

[0323] More particularly, in one embodiment of the method in accordancewith the invention in which two neural networks are used in the controlof the deployment of an occupant restraint device based on the positionof an object in a passenger compartment of a vehicle, severalwave-emitting and receiving transducers are mounted on the vehicle.Preferably, the transducers are ultrasonic transducers whichsimultaneously transmit and receive waves at different frequencies fromone another. A determination is made by a first neural network whetherthe object is of a type requiring deployment of the occupant restraintdevice in the event of a crash involving the vehicle based on the wavesreceived by at least some of the transducers after being modified bypassing through the passenger compartment. If so, another determinationis made by a second neural network whether the position of the objectrelative to the occupant restraint device would cause injury to theobject upon deployment of the occupant restraint device based on thewaves received by at least some of the transducers. The first neuralnetwork is trained on signals from at least some of the transducersrepresentative of waves received by the transducers when differentobjects are situated in the passenger compartment. The second neuralnetwork is trained on signals from at least some of the transducers whendifferent objects in different positions are situated in the passengercompartment.

[0324] The transducers used in the training of the first and secondneural networks and operational use of method are not necessary the sametransducers and different sets of transducers can be used for the typingor categorizing of the object via the first neural network and theposition determination of the object via the second neural network.

[0325] The modifications described above with respect to the use ofultrasonic transducers can also be used in conjunction with a dualneural network system. For example, motion of a respective vibratingelement or cone of one or more of the transducers may be electronicallyor mechanically diminished or suppressed to reduce ringing of thetransducer and/or one or more of the transducers may be arranged in arespective tube having an opening through which the waves aretransmitted and received.

[0326] In another embodiment of the invention, a method for categorizingand determining the position of an object in a passenger compartment ofa vehicle entails mounting a plurality of wave-receiving transducers onthe vehicle, training a first neural network on signals from at leastsome of the transducers representative of waves received by thetransducers when different objects in different positions are situatedin the passenger compartment, and training a second neural network onsignals from at least some of the transducers representative of wavesreceived by the transducers when different objects in differentpositions are situated in the passenger compartment. As such, the firstneural network provides an output signal indicative of thecategorization of the object while the second neural network provides anoutput signal indicative of the position of the object. The transducersmay be controlled to transmit and receive waves each at a differentfrequency, as discussed below, and one or more of the transducers may bearranged in a respective tube having an opening through which the wavesare transmitted and received.

[0327] Although this system is described with particular advantageoususe for ultrasonic transducers, it is conceivable that other transducerswhich transmit in ranges other than the ultrasonic range can also beused in accordance with the invention.

[0328] 8. Dynamic Out-of-Position (DOOP)

[0329] Although it has been proven that crash sensors mounted in thecrush zone are better and faster at discriminating airbag requiredcrashes from those where an airbag deployment is not desired, theautomobile manufacturers have preferred to use electronic sensorsmounted in the passenger compartment, so called single point sensors.Since there is no acceptable theory that guides a sensor designer indetermining the proper algorithm for use with single point sensors (seefor Breed, D. S., Sanders, W. T. and Castelli, V. “A Critique of SinglePoint Crash Sensing”, Society of Automotive Engineers Paper SAE 920124,1992), there are many such algorithms in existence with varyingcharacteristics. Some naturally perform better than others. There is aconcern among the automobile manufacturers that such sensors mighttrigger late in some real world crashes for which they have not beentested. In such cases, the automobile manufacturers do not want theairbag to deploy.

[0330] If the occupant position sensor designer could rely on the singlepoint sensor doing a reasonable job in triggering on time, or at leastas good a job as the electromechanical crush zone mounted sensors, thencases such as high speed barrier crashes need not be considered. Sincethe characteristics of the electromechanical sensors are well known andcan be easily modeled, the occupant position sensor designer candetermine when this kind of sensor would trigger in all crashes and as aresult high speed barrier crashes, for example, need not be considered.Single point sensor algorithms, on the other hand, are generallyproprietary to the supplier. Therefore no assumptions can be made abouttheir ability to respond in time to various crashes. Consequently, theoccupant sensor designer must assume the worst case in that the sensorwill trigger at the worst possible time in all crashes. It has beenshown that if the sensor responds nearly as well as theelectromechanical crush zone mounted sensor, that determining theposition of the occupant every 50 milliseconds is adequate (see forexample Society of Automotive Engineers paper 940527, “Vehicle OccupantPosition Sensing” by Breed et al, which is included herein byreference). With the requirement that all worst cases be considered, thetime required for measuring the position of an occupant who is notwearing a seatbelt in a high speed short duration crash is closer to10-20 milliseconds.

[0331] Sound travels in air at about 331 meters/second (˜1086feet/second). If an object is as much as three feet from the transducer,the ultrasound will require about 6 milliseconds to travel to the objectand back. If the processor requires an additional three milliseconds toprocess the data (assuming that the neural network is solved each timenew data from any transducer is available), it requires a total of about10 milliseconds for a single transducer to interrogate the desiredvolume. If four transducers are used, as in the present design, at least40 milliseconds are therefore required. As discussed above, this is toolong and thus an alternative arrangement is required. One solution is tooperate the system in two modes. Mode one would use four transducers toidentify what is in the subject volume and where it is, relative to theairbag, before the crash begins and mode two would use only one, or atmost two, transducers to monitor the motion of the object during thecrash. The problem with this solution is that occasionally the chosentransducer could be blocked by a newspaper, for example, or a hat. Iftwo transducers were used this problem would theoretically be solved butthere is a problem as to which transducer to believe if they areproviding different answers. This latter problem is sufficientlycomplicated as to require a neural network type solution. But in thatcase, the neural network really needs the output from all four of thetransducers to make an accurate decision due to the vast number ofdifferent configurations that can occur in the passenger compartment. Tomake a highly reliable decision, therefore, all of the transducers needto be used which means that they all have to work at the same time. Thiscan be accomplished if each one uses a different frequency. One couldoperate at 45 kHz, a second at 55 kHz, the third at 65 kHz and the forthat 75 kHz, for example. The 10 kHz (or even 5 kHz) spacing is sufficientto permit each one to transmit and receive without hearing thetransmissions from any other transducer. Thus, the apparatus used in theinstant invention contemplates, for most applications, the use ofmultiple frequencies in contrast to all other systems which have thusfar been disclosed.

[0332] For the majority of the cases, the position of the occupant atthe start of a crash is all that is necessary to determine if he or sheis out of position for airbag deployment determination. This is becausethe motion of the occupant is usually very small during the time thatthe crash sensors determine that the airbag should be deployed. TheAppendix provides a mathematical analysis demonstrating this conclusion.There are some rare cases, however, where it would be desirable to trackthe occupant in as close to real time as possible. Such cases include:(1) panic braking where the occupant begins at a significant distancefrom the danger zone; (2) a multiple accident scenario where the firstaccident is not sufficient to deploy the airbag but does impart asignificant relative velocity to the occupant, and (3) an unusually highdeceleration prior to a crash such as might occur due to sliding along aguard rail or going through mud or water. Some automobile manufacturersadd a fourth category, which is the case of a mal-functioning or poorlyfunctioning crash sensor where the motion of the occupant even in abarrier crash can be significant. For these cases, dynamic out ofposition (DOOP) needs to be considered and careful attention paid to thedevelopment of the post processor algorithms.

[0333] A. DOOP—Multiple Frequencies

[0334] In a standard ultrasonic system as described above, typicallyfour transducers interrogate the occupant, one after the other. Thefirst transducer transmits a few cycles of typically 40 kHz ultrasoundand waits for all of the echoes to return and then the second transducertransmits, etc. Since it takes as much as 7 to 10 milliseconds for thewaves to be transmitted, received and for the reverberations to subside,it takes approximately 40 milliseconds for four to do so. If fourdifferent frequencies are used, on the other hand, all four transmitterscan transmit and receive simultaneously reducing the total time to 10milliseconds. The time required to calculate the neural network is smallcompared with 10 milliseconds and can take place while the transducersare transmitting. If the driver is also included, as many as eightfrequencies would be used.

[0335] In particular, in one method for identifying an object in apassenger compartment of a vehicle, a plurality of ultrasonicwave-emitting and receiving transducers are mounted on the vehicle, eacharranged to transmit and receive waves at a different frequency, thetransducers are controlled, e.g., by a central processor, tosimultaneously transmit waves at the different frequencies into thepassenger compartment, and the object is identified based on the wavesreceived by at least some of the transducers after being modified bypassing through the passenger compartment, i.e., reflected by theobject. Since different objects will most likely cause differentreflections to the ultrasonic receivers, the object can be identifiedwith reasonable precision based on the returned waves. By appropriatelydetermining the spacing between the frequencies of the waves transmittedand received by the transducers, the possibility of each transducerreceiving waves transmitted by another transducer is reduced and theaccuracy of the system is improved. The position of the object can alsobe determined, in addition to or instead of the determination of theidentity of the object, based on the waves received by at least some ofthe transducers after being modified by passing through the passengercompartment.

[0336] The improvements relating to the use of ultrasonic transducersdescribed herein may be used in conjunction with this embodiment. Forexample, motion of a respective vibrating element or cone of one or moreof the transducers can be electronically diminished or suppressed toreduce ringing of the transducer and one or more of the transducers maybe arranged in a respective tube having an opening through which thewaves are transmitted and received. Neural networks may be used andreside in the central processor, and which are possibly trained usingheat as discussed above.

[0337] A similar arrangement for identifying an object in a passengercompartment of the vehicle includes a plurality of wave-emitting andreceiving transducers mounted on the vehicle, each transducer beingarranged to transmit and receive waves at a different frequency, and aprocessor coupled to the transducers for controlling the transducers tosimultaneously transmit waves at the different frequencies into thepassenger compartment. The processor or processor means receive signalsrepresentative of the waves received by the transducers after beingmodified by passing through the passenger compartment and identifies theobject based on the signals representative of the waves received by thetransducers. Depending on its design and programming, the processor canalso determine the position of the object based on the signalsrepresentative of the waves received by the transducers, either inaddition to or instead of the determination of the identity of theobject.

[0338] The improvements relating to the use of ultrasonic transducersdescribed herein may be used in conjunction with this embodiment. Forexample, the signals from the receivers may be operated upon by acompression amplifier such as those described above and one or more ofthe transducers may be arranged in a respective tube having an openingthrough which the waves are transmitted and received.

[0339] Although this system is described with particular advantageoususe for ultrasonic transducers, it is conceivable that other transducerswhich transmit in ranges other than the ultrasonic range can also beused in accordance with the invention.

[0340] B. Differential Mode—Velocity

[0341] In addition to the inputs from the transducers, it has been foundthat the difference between the current vector and the previous vectoralso contains valuable information as to the motion of the occupant. Itrepresents a kind of velocity vector and is useful in predicting wherethe occupant will be in the next time period. In addition to a vectorrepresenting the latest difference, a series of such difference orvelocity vectors has also proven useful for the dynamic out-of-positioncalculation. Additionally, the difference vector provides a check on theaccuracy of the vector since the motion of an occupant must be within acertain narrow band within a 10-millisecond period. This fact can beused to correct errors within a vector.

[0342] 9. Other Applications—Miscellaneous

[0343] A. Location of the Scatback and Seat

[0344] The positions of the seatback and the seat are valuableinformation in determining the location of the occupant for seatswithout position sensors. One cost-effective method of obtaining thisinformation is to use one or more ultrasonic transducers to locate theseat or seatback relative to a particular point in the vehicle. In manycases, only the seatback location is required as it gives an indicationof the location of the occupant's chest for various combinations of seatand seatback position. This measure is particularly useful in helping todifferentiate a forward facing human from an empty seat.

[0345] B. Ultrasonic Weight Sensor

[0346] An ultrasonic transducer also can be used as a weight sensor bymeasuring the deflection of the seat bottom relative to some seatsupporting structure.

[0347] C. Thermometer Temperature Compensation

[0348] In previous applications, the speed of sound has been determinedby measuring the time it takes the sound to travel from one transducerto another. This is successful only if the second transducer can hearthe particular frequency being sent by the first transducer. It can befooled if an object partially obstructs the path from the one transducerto the other creating a second path for the sound to travel. The speedof sound is primarily a function of the temperature of the air. Fromabout −40° C. to 85° C., the speed of sound changes by about 24%. Thespeed of sound is also affected by humidity, however, this effect isconsiderably smaller. It is not affected by barometric pressure exceptto the extent that the temperature is affected. In going from 0% to 100%relative humidity at about 40° C., the speed of sound changes by lessthan about 1.5%. Thus, it is clear that the temperature is the dominantconsideration in this system. The percentage 1.5% represents about 3centimeters for a target at about 1 meter which is below the accuracy ofthe ultrasonic system. For these reasons, temperature compensation isall that is required and that can be handled in some cases by placing atemperature sensor on the electronic circuit board and measuring thetemperature directly, thereby avoiding the multipath effect.

[0349] One problem with measuring the temperature on the printed circuitboard, however, is that that temperature may not be representative ofthe air temperature within the vehicle passenger compartment. Analternate and preferred method is to use a characteristic of each of thetransducers which changes with temperature as a measurement of thetemperature at the transducer. Since the transducers are generally notin a box with other electronic circuitry, they should have a temperaturewhich is an approximation of the surrounding air temperature. Of thethree properties which have been identified as varying with temperatureand which are easily measured, capacitance, inductance and resonantfrequency, the resonant frequency is the easiest to determine and isthus the preferred method as described above although the measure of thecapacitance is also practical.

[0350] D. Electromagnetic Thermal Compensation

[0351] Generally, the examples provided above have focused oncompensating for thermal gradients which affect ultrasonic waves. It isto be understood however that the same techniques can be used tocompensate for thermal gradients which affect other types of waves suchas electromagnetic waves (optics). Thermal gradients adversely affectoptics (e.g., create mirages) but typically do so to a lesser extentthan they affect ultrasonic waves.

[0352] For example, an optical system used in a vehicle, in the samemanner as an ultrasonic system is used as discussed in detail above, mayinclude a high dynamic range camera (HDRC). HDRC's are known devices tothose skilled in the art. In accordance with the invention, the HDRC canbe coupled to a log compression amplifier so that the log compressionamplifier amplifies some electromagnetic waves received by the HDRCrelative to others. Thus, in this embodiment, the log compressionamplifier would compensate for thermal instability affecting thepropagation of electromagnetic waves within the vehicle interior. SomeHDRC cameras are already designed to have this log compression built insuch as one developed by Fraunhofer-Inst. of Microelectron. Circuits &Systems in Duisburg, Germany. An alternate approach using a combinationof spatially varying images is described in International ApplicationNo. WO 00/79784 assigned to Columbia University.

[0353] Although the above discussion has centered on the front passengerseat, it is obvious that the same or similar apparatus can be used forthe driver seat as well as the rear seats. Although attention has beenfocused of frontal protection airbags, again the apparatus can beapplied to solving similar problems in side and rear impacts and tocontrol the deployment of other occupant restraints in addition toairbags. Thus, to reiterate some of the more novel features of theinvention, this application discloses: (1) the use of a tubular mountingstructure for the transducers; (2) the use of electronic reduction orsuppression of transducer ringing; (3) the use of mechanical damping ofthe transducer cone, all three of which permits the use of a singletransducer for both sending and receiving; (4) the use of a shaped hornto control the pattern of ultrasound; (5) the use of the resonantfrequency monitoring principle to permit speed of sound compensation;(6) the use of multiple frequencies with sufficient spacing to isolatethe signals from each other; (7) the ability to achieve a completeneural network update using four transducers every 10 to 20milliseconds; (8) the ability to package the transducer and tube into asmall package due to the ability to use a small diameter tube fortransmission with minimal signal loss; (9) the use of a logarithmiccompression amplifier to minimize the effects of thermal gradients inthe vehicle; and (10) the significant cost reduction and performanceimprovement which results from the applications of the above principles.To the extent possible, the foregoing features can be used incombination with one another.

[0354] Thus, disclosed above is a method and apparatus for use in asystem to identify, locate and/or monitor occupants, including theirparts, and other objects in the passenger compartment and in particulara child seat in the rear facing position or an out-of-position occupantin which the contents of the vehicle are irradiated with ultrasonicradiation, e.g., by transmitting ultrasonic radiation waves from anultrasonic wave generating apparatus, and ultrasonic radiation isreceived using at least one ultrasonic transducer properly located inthe vehicle passenger compartment, and in specific predetermined optimumlocations. The ultrasonic radiation is reflected from any objects in thepassenger compartment. More particularly, this invention relates tomethods and apparatus for enabling a single ultrasonic transducer to beused for both sending and receiving ultrasonic waves, to providetemperature compensation for a system using an ultrasonic transducer, toreduce the effects of thermal gradients on the accuracy of a systemusing an ultrasonic transducer, for enabling all of a plurality ofultrasonic transducers to send and receive data (waves) simultaneously,for enabling precise control of the radiated pattern of ultrasoundwaves, in order to achieve a speed, cost and accuracy of recognitionheretofore not possible. Outputs from the ultrasonic receivers, areanalyzed by appropriate computational means employing trained patternrecognition technologies, to classify, identify and/or locate thecontents, and/or determine the orientation of a rear facing child seat,for example. In general, the information obtained by the identificationand monitoring system is used to affect the operation of some othersystem in the vehicle and particularly the passenger and/or driverairbag systems, which may include a front airbag, a side airbag, a kneebolster, or combinations of the same. However, the information obtainedcan be used for a multitude of other vehicle systems.

[0355] When the vehicle interior monitoring system of this invention isinstalled in the passenger compartment of an automotive vehicle equippedwith a occupant protective device, such as an inflatable airbag, and thevehicle is subjected to a crash of sufficient severity that the crashsensor has determined that the protective device is to be deployed, thesystem, in accordance with the invention, has previously determined,(i.e., prior to the deployment) whether a child placed in the rearfacing position in the child seat is present and if so, a signal hasbeen sent to the control circuitry that the airbag should be disabled,that is, not deployed in the crash. The system of this invention alsodetermines the dynamic position of the vehicle occupant relative to theairbag and disables deployment of the airbag if the occupant ispositioned so that he/she is likely to be injured by the deployment ofthe airbag and does so at a speed and accuracy heretofore not possible.

[0356] Also disclosed herein is a method for controlling a system in thevehicle based on the occupying item in which at least a portion of thepassenger compartment in which the occupying item is situated isirradiated, reflected radiation from surfaces of the occupying item arereceived by a plurality of sensors or transducers each arranged at adiscrete location, the received radiation is processed by a processor inorder to create at least one electronic signal characteristic of theoccupying item based on the received radiation, each signal containing apattern representative and/or characteristic of the occupying item andeach signal is then categorized by utilizing pattern recognition meansfor recognizing and thus identifying the class of the occupying item.The pattern recognition means process each signal into a categorizationthereof based on data corresponding to patterns of received radiationstored within or trained into the pattern recognition means andassociated with possible classes of occupying items of the vehicle. Oncethe signal(s) is/are categorized, the operation of a system in thevehicle may be affected based on the categorization of the signal(s),and thus based on the occupying item.

[0357] If the system in the vehicle is a vehicle communication system,then an output representative of the number of occupants in the vehiclemay be produced based on the categorization of the signal(s) and thevehicle communication system thus controlled based on such output.Similarly, if the system in the vehicle is a vehicle entertainmentsystem or heating and air conditioning system, then an outputrepresentative of specific seat occupancy may be produced based on thecategorization of the signal(s) and the vehicle entertainment or heatingand air conditioning system thus controlled based on such output.

[0358] In one embodiment designed to ensure safe operation of thevehicle, the attentiveness of the occupying item is determined from thesignal(s) if the occupying item is an occupant, and in addition toaffecting the system in the vehicle based on the categorization of thesignal, the system in the vehicle is affected based on the determinedattentiveness of the occupant. This application requires additionalapparatus.

[0359] One embodiment of the interior monitoring system in accordancewith the invention comprises means for irradiating at least a portion ofthe passenger compartment in which an occupying item is situated,receiver means for receiving reflected radiation from the occupyingitem, comprising a plurality of receivers, each arranged at a discretelocation, processor means coupled to the receivers for processing thereceived radiation from each receiver in order to create a respectiveelectronic signal characteristic of the occupying item based on thereceived radiation, each signal containing a pattern representative ofthe occupying item, categorization means coupled to the processor meansfor categorizing the signals, and output means coupled to thecategorization means for affecting at least one other system within thevehicle based on the categorization of the signals characteristic of theoccupying item. The categorization means may comprise patternrecognition means for recognizing and thus identifying the class of theoccupying item by processing the signals into a categorization thereofbased on data corresponding to patterns of received radiation storedwithin the pattern recognition means and associated with possibleclasses of occupying items of the vehicle. Each signal may comprises aplurality of data, all of which is compared to the data corresponding topatterns of received radiation stored within the pattern recognitionmeans and associated with possible classes of contents of the vehicle.

[0360] In one specific embodiment, the system includes locationdetermining means coupled to the processor means for determining thelocation of the occupying item, e.g., based on the received radiationsuch that the output means which are coupled to the location determiningmeans, in addition to affecting the other system based on thecategorization of the signals characteristic of the occupying item,affect the system based on the determined location of the occupyingitem.

[0361] In another embodiment to determine the presence or absence of anoccupant, the categorization means comprise pattern recognition meansfor recognizing the presence or absence of an occupying item in thepassenger compartment by processing each signal into a categorizationthereof signal based on data corresponding to patterns of receivedradiation stored within the pattern recognition means and associatedwith possible occupying items of the vehicle and the absence of suchoccupying items.

[0362] When a VIMS system is used primarily for the detection,identification, and location of occupants in the passenger compartmentfor the purposes of suppressing either the forward or side impactairbags, it is sometimes referred to as a seated state detecting systemor apparatus. Frequently the seated state detecting system will compriseother types of sensors such as seat position and seatback angle sensors,seat belt buckle sensors, seatbelt payout sensors, weight sensors andother sensors that are not based on the reflections of waves from anoccupying item.

[0363] In the embodiments wherein a seated-state detecting apparatus isused, the apparatus comprises: a plurality of ultrasonic sensors fortransmitting ultrasonic waves toward a seat and receiving reflectedwaves from the seat and its contents, if any; one or more weight sensorsmay be present for detecting weight of an occupant in the seat or anabsence of weight applied onto the seat indicative of an empty seat; andprocessor means or an evaluation circuit to which output of theultrasonic sensors and the weight sensor(s) are inputted and whichprocesses the outputs to evaluate a seated-state based on the outputs.The evaluation circuit may be implemented in hardware as an electroniccircuit or in software as a computer program.

[0364] In certain embodiments, a correlation function or state betweenthe output of the various sensors and the desired result (i.e., seatoccupancy identification and categorization) is determined by a neuralnetwork, or neural-fuzzy system, that may be implemented in hardware asa neural computer or neural processor, or in a software as a computerprogram or a combination thereof. The correlation function or state thatis determined, by employing this neural network may also be contained ina microcomputer. In this case, the microcomputer can be employed as anevaluation circuit. The word circuit herein will be used to mean both anelectronic circuit and the functional equivalent implemented on amicrocomputer using software.

[0365] The seated-state detecting apparatus may further comprise a seattrack position detecting sensor. This sensor determines the position ofthe seat on the seat track in the forward and aft direction. In thiscase, the evaluation circuit evaluates the seated-state, based on acorrelation function obtained from outputs of the ultrasonic sensors, anoutput of the one or more weight sensors, and an output of the seattrack position detecting sensor. With this structure, there is theadvantage that the identification between the configuration of adetected surface in a state where a passenger is not sitting in the seatand the configuration of a detected surface which is detected when aseat is slid backwards by the amount of the thickness of a passenger,that is, of identification of whether a passenger seat is empty oroccupied by a passenger, can be reliably performed.

[0366] Furthermore, the seated-state detecting apparatus may alsocomprise a reclining angle detecting sensor, and the evaluation circuitmay also evaluate the seated-state based on a correlation functionobtained from outputs of the ultrasonic sensors, an output of the weightsensor(s), and an output of the reclining angle detecting sensor. Inthis case, if the tilted angle information of the back portion of theseat is added as evaluation information for the seated-state,identification can be clearly performed between the configuration of asurface detected when a passenger is in a slightly slouching state andthe configuration of a surface detected when the back portion of a seatis slightly tilted forward and similar difficult-to-discriminate cases.This embodiment may even be combined with the output from a seat trackposition detecting sensor to further enhance the evaluation circuit.

[0367] Moreover, the seated-state detecting apparatus may furthercomprise a comparison circuit for comparing the output of the weightsensor(s) with a reference value. In this case, the evaluation circuitidentifies an adult and a child based on the reference value.

[0368] Preferably, the seated-state detecting apparatus comprises: aplurality of ultrasonic sensors for transmitting ultrasonic waves towarda seat and receiving reflected waves from the seat; one or more weightsensors for detecting weight of a passenger in the seat; a seat trackposition detecting sensor; a reclining angle detecting sensor; and aneural network circuit to which outputs of the ultrasonic sensors andthe weight sensor(s), an output of the seat track position detectingsensor, and an output of the reclining angle detecting sensor areinputted and which evaluates several kinds of seated-states, based on acorrelation function obtained from the outputs.

[0369] The kinds of seated-states that can be evaluated and categorizedby the neural network include the following categories, among others,(i) a normally seated forward facing passenger and a forward facingchild seat, (ii) an out-of-position passenger and a rear facing childseat, and (iii) an empty seat.

[0370] The seated-state detecting apparatus may further comprise acomparison circuit for comparing the output of the weight sensor(s) witha reference value and a gate circuit to which the evaluation signal anda comparison signal from the comparison circuit are input. This gatecircuit, which may be implemented in software or hardware, outputssignals which evaluates several kinds of seated-states. These kinds ofseated-states can include a (i) normally seated forward facingpassenger, (ii) a forward facing child seat, (iii) an out-of-positionpassenger, (iv) a rear facing child seat, and (v) an empty seat. Withthis arrangement, the identification between a normally seated forwardfacing passenger and a forward facing child seat, the identificationbetween an out-of-position seated passenger and a rear facing childseat, and the identification of an empty seat can be more reliablyperformed.

[0371] The outputs of the plurality of ultrasonic sensors, the output ofthe weight sensor(s), the outputs of the seat track position detectingsensor, and the outputs of the reclining angle detecting sensor areinputted to the neural network or other pattern recognition circuit, andthe neural network determines the correlation function, based ontraining thereof during a training phase. The correlation function isthen typically implemented in or incorporated into a microcomputer. Forthe purposes herein, neural network will be used to include both asingle neural network, a plurality of neural networks, and other similarpattern recognition circuits or algorithms and combinations thereof,including a fuzzy logic or neural-fuzzy system.

[0372] To provide the input from the ultrasonic sensors to the neuralnetwork, it is sometimes preferable that an initial reflected waveportion and a last reflected wave portion are removed from each of thereflected waves of the ultrasonic sensors before the output data isprocessed. The neural network determines the correlation function byperforming a weighting process, based on output data from the pluralityof ultrasonic sensors, output data from the weight sensor(s), outputdata from the seat track position detecting sensor if present and/or onoutput data from the reclining angle detecting sensor if present.

[0373] With this arrangement, the portions of the reflected ultrasonicwave that do not contain useful information are removed from theanalysis and the presence and recognition of an object on the passengerseat can be more accurately performed. The improvements of the instantinvention permit a reduction in the size of the initial removedreflected portion by eliminating cross-talk and reducing transducerringing permitting data to be acquired closer to the transducer.

[0374] In one method for determining the occupancy of a seat in apassenger compartment of a vehicle in accordance with the invention,waves such as ultrasonic waves are transmitted into the passengercompartment toward the seat, reflected waves from the passengercompartment are received by a component which then generates an outputrepresentative thereof, the weight applied onto the seat is measured andan output is generated representative thereof and then the seated-stateof the seat is evaluated based on the outputs from the sensors and theweight measuring means.

[0375] The evaluation of the seated-state of the seat may beaccomplished by generating a function correlating the outputsrepresentative of the received reflected waves and the measured weightand the seated-state of the seat, and incorporating the correlationfunction into a microcomputer. In the alternative, it is possible togenerate a function correlating the outputs representative of thereceived reflected waves and the measured weight and the seated-state ofthe seat in a neural network circuit, and execute the function using theoutputs representative of the received reflected waves and the measuredweight as input into the neural network circuit.

[0376] To enhance the seated-state determination, the position of a seattrack of the seat is measured and an output representative thereof isgenerated, and then the seated-state of the seat is evaluated based onthe outputs representative of the received reflected waves, the measuredweight and the measured seat track position. In addition to or insteadof measuring the seat track position, it is possible to measure thereclining angle of the seat, i.e., the angle between the seat portionand the back portion of the seat, and generate an output representativethereof, and then evaluate the seated-state of the seat based on theoutputs representative of the received reflected waves, the measuredweight and the measured reclining angle of the seat (and seat trackposition, if measured).

[0377] Furthermore, the output representative of the measured weight maybe compared with a reference value, and the occupying object of the seatidentified, e.g., as an adult or a child, based on the comparison of themeasured weight with the reference value.

[0378] Although several preferred embodiments are illustrated anddescribed above, there are possible combinations using other geometries,sensors, materials and different dimensions for the components thatperform the same functions. This invention is not limited to the aboveembodiments and should be determined by the following claims.

APPENDIX DYNAMIC OUT-OF-POSITION ANALYSIS

[0379] Concern has been expressed as to whether the Ultrasonic AutomaticOccupant Sensor (UAOS) is sufficiently fast to detect DynamicOut-of-Position (DOOP). This is based on the belief that the UAOSupdates only every 100 milliseconds and that to measure DOOP an updateevery 10 milliseconds is required. This study therefore will demonstratetwo points:

[0380] The UAOS can achieve an update rate of once every 10milliseconds.

[0381] A slower update rate of 50 milliseconds or 20 milliseconds is infact sufficient.

[0382] One critical point is that the UAOS system, because of the use ofpattern recognition, knows the location of the important parts of theoccupant and therefore will probably not be fooled by motions of theextremities. Simpler systems could misinterpret the motion of the armsof a belted occupant for the occupant's chest.

[0383] The first issue is to determine what update timing is requiredfor DOOP and when. If the occupant is initially positioned far back fromthe airbag, for example, there is little doubt that even a 50millisecond update time is sufficient.

[0384] In order to get a preliminary understanding of the problem,consider the simple case to a constant deceleration pulse varying from 1to 16 G's for a period of 0.1 seconds. 1 G represents something greaterthan what occurs in braking and 16 G's represents an approximation to a35 MPH barrier crash. The argument is made that a square waveapproximates braking pulses and that vehicles are designed to attempt toachieve a square wave barrier crash pulse. It is also believed that thesquare wave approximation to a crash pulse is more severe for thepurposes here than some other shape. Later in this preliminary report aHaversine crash pulse will be considered. A Haversine crash pulse is asine wave upwardly displaced so that the lowest point is on the x-axis.

[0385] The problem then can be stated that: given that there is someclearance from the airbag at the time that an airbag inflation isinitiated such that if an occupant is closer than that clearance theairbag should not be deployed (the restricted zone), how much additionalclearance must be provided to allow a prediction to be made that theoccupant will move to within the restricted zone before the sensortriggers. This additional clearance, called the sensing clearance, willof course depend on the sensing time which we will assume here will varyfrom 10 to 100 milliseconds. The worst case is where the occupant is atrest and then begins moving just after his position has been measured.Since it is assumed that a measurement has been made before occupantmotion begins, the calculation of the sensing clearance amounts todetermining the motion of the occupant, represented here as anunrestrained mass, that can take place during the sensing period. Theworst case initial position of the occupant is where the occupant isinitially very close to the restricted zone since if he or she startsout at a greater distance there is more time to take positionmeasurements and then project the position of the occupant at a latertime.

[0386] For the assumption above, which are believed to be worst case,the sensing clearance can be calculated as shown in the table:

[0387] “na” in the table signifies that the crash sensor would havetriggered before a second measurement reading can be ACCELERATIONSENSING TIME G's 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.05 0.1 SENSING CLEARANCE (inches) 10.02 0.08 0.17 0.48 1.93 2 0.04 0.15 0.35 0.97 3.86 4 0.08 0.31 0.701.93 7.73 8 0.15 0.62 1.39 na na 16  0.31 1.24 na na na VELOCITY (mph) 10.22 0.44 0.66 1.10 2.20 2 0.44 0.88 1.32 2.20 4.39 4 0.88 1.76 2.634.39 8.78 8 1.76 3.51 5.27 8.78 17.56 16  3.51 7.03 10.54 17.56 35.13

[0388] taken. For the 16 G 0.03 second case, for example, the sensorwould have triggered before .02 seconds. From the table it can be seenfor this worst case scenario for 20 milisecond sampling the sensingclearance is about an 1 inch, for 30 miliseconds it is about 1.5 inchesand even for 50 miliseconds it is less than 2 inches.

[0389] In the table below, 0.7 G was assumed followed by a Haversineshaped crash pulse. The program was run for a variety of crash impactspeeds, braking durations and initial occupant positions. Out of manythousands of cases which were run, only those cases shown where thecomputer predicted that the occupants was further than 8 inches, therestricted clearance, and where the actual position at sensor triggeringwas within the restricted clearance, that is less than 8 inches. Thesensor triggering time was based on the 5 inch less 30 milisecondcriteria. It is noteworthy that only a simple linear extrapolation ofthe last two measurements was used to predict the occupant position. Amore realistic extapolation formula would of course give better results.

[0390] Crash impacts speeds were varied from 8 to 34 mph with 2 mphsteps. For each impact speed crash duration was varied from 30 ms to 180ms with 30 ms steps and each crash duration pre-crash braking timesvaried from 100 to 2200 ms with 300 ms steps. Finally, for eachpre-crash braking time initial occupant clearance varied from 30 inchesto 4 inches by 4 inches steps. From that full set, these are the caseswhere the occupant clearance at sensor fire was less than or equal to 8inches and the predicted clearance was over 8 inches.

[0391] Driver motion when airbag opened, inches . . . 5.0000

[0392] Airbag deployment time, ms . . . 30.0000

[0393] Time between position and velocity measurements, ms . . . 20.0000

[0394] Pre-crash braking deceleration, g . . . 0.7000

[0395] Minimum occupant clearance at sensor fire, inches . . . 8.0000Vcr is the crash impact speed, mph T is the crash duration, ms tb is thepre-crash braking time, ms Dpab0 is the initial occupant clearance,inches Vc0 is the vehicle pre-braking speed, mph ts is the requiredsensor fire time, ms Dpaba is the actual occupant clearance at tsDbarpabts is the predicted occupant clearance at ts Dpabm is the lastmeasured occupant clearance, inches Dpabm2 is the previous measuredoccupant clearance, inches Vcr T tb Dpab0 Vc0 ts Dpaba Dbarpabts DpabmDpabm2 8.0 90.0 100.0 12.0 9.54 150.49 7.9 8.82 9.59 10.36 8.0 120.0100.0 12.0 9.54 165.17 7.2 8.01 8.96 9.92 10.0 120.0 100.0 12.0 11.54157.44 7.7 8.53 9.35 10.16 12.0 150.0 100.0 12.0 13.54 164.91 7.5 8.199.06 9.94 14.0 150.0 100.0 12.0 15.54 160.24 7.7 8.47 9.27 10.08 16.0150.0 100.0 12.0 17.54 156.47 8.0 8.68 9.44 10.19 16.0 180.0 100.0 12.017.54 168.03 7.4 8.09 8.97 9.84 18.0 180.0 100.0 12.0 19.54 164.57 7.68.28 9.12 9.95 20.0 180.0 100.0 12.0 21.54 161.62 7.8 8.45 9.25 10.0422.0 180.0 100.0 12.0 23.54 159.05 7.9 8.59 9.35 10.12

[0396] From these results, a sensing clearance of less than 1 inchappears to be adequate.

[0397] To further validate the conclusions here, a study should be doneusing real crash pulses and realistic braking decelerations. From theabove analysis, it is unlikely that sensing times faster than 20milliseconds are required and 50 milliseconds is probably adequate.

[0398] In specifying the 8 inch restricted zone, the automobilemanufacturers have obviously not taken into account the velocity of theoccupant as he or she enters that zone since the amount of displacementinto the restricted zone while the airbag is deploying will obviouslyvary with occupant velocity. A full MADYMO simulation validated by crashand sled tests, of course, will ultimately settle this issue. MADYMO isa computer program which is available from TNO Road Vehicles ResearchInstitute, Schoemakerstraat 97, Delft, The Netherlands. It is often usedto simulate crash tests (as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No.5,695,242).

We Claim:
 1. A method for generating a neural network for determiningthe position of an object in a vehicle, comprising the steps of:conducting a plurality of data generation steps, each of said datagenerating steps comprising the steps of placing an object in thepassenger compartment of the vehicle, directing waves into at least aportion of the passenger compartment in which the object is situated,receiving reflected waves from the object at a receiver, forming a dataset of a signal representative of the reflected waves from the object,the distance from the object to the receiver and the temperature of thepassenger compartment between the object and the receiver, changing thetemperature of the air between the object and the receiver, andperforming the wave-directing step, wave-receiving step and data setforming step for the object at different temperatures between the objectand the receiver; and generating a pattern recognition algorithm fromthe data sets such that upon operational input of a signalrepresentative of reflected waves from the object, the algorithmprovides an approximation of the distance from the object to thereceiver.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the algorithm is a neuralnetwork.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of conducting aplurality of data generation steps further comprises the step of placingdifferent objects in the passenger compartment and then performing thewave-directing step, the wave-receiving step and temperature changingstep for different objects, the identity of the object being included inthe data set such that upon operational input of a signal representativeof reflected waves from the object, the algorithm provides anapproximation of the identity of the object.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the step of conducting a plurality of data generation stepsfurther comprises the step of placing the different objects in differentpositions in the passenger compartment and then performing thewave-directing step, the wave-receiving step and temperature changingstep for the different objects in the different positions, the identityand position of the object being included in the data set such that uponoperational input of a signal representative of reflected waves from theobject, the algorithm provides an approximation of the identity andposition of the object.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step ofconducting a plurality of data generation steps further comprises thestep of placing the object in different positions in the passengercompartment and then performing the wave-directing step, thewave-receiving step and temperature changing step for the object in thedifferent positions, the position of the object being included in thedata set such that upon operational input of a signal representative ofreflected waves from the object, the algorithm provides an approximationof the position of the object.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thestep of changing the temperature of the air comprises the step ofdynamically changed the temperature of the air by introducing a flow ofblowing air at a different temperature than the ambient temperature ofthe passenger compartment.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprisingthe step of creating the blowing air flow by operating a vehicle heateror air conditioner of the vehicle.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thestep of changing the temperature of the air comprises the step ofchanging the temperature of the air by creating a temperature gradientbetween a top and a bottom of the passenger compartment.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein the waves are ultrasonic waves.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the waves are electromagnetic waves.
 11. A method foridentifying an object in a passenger compartment of a vehicle,comprising the steps of: mounting a plurality of wave-emitting andreceiving transducers on the vehicle, each transducer being arranged totransmit and receive waves at a different frequency, controlling thetransducers to simultaneously transmit waves at the differentfrequencies into the passenger compartment, and identifying the objectbased on the waves received by at least some of the transducers afterbeing modified by passing through the passenger compartment.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising the step of determining thespacing between the frequencies of the waves transmitted and received bythe transducers to reduce the possibility of each transducer receivingwaves transmitted by another transducer.
 13. The method of claim 11,further comprising the step of determining the position of the objectbased on the waves received by at least some of the transducers afterbeing modified by passing through the passenger compartment.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the transducers are ultrasonic transducers.15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of:electronically reducing motion of a respective vibrating element of atleast one of the transducers to reduce ringing of the transducer. 16.The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of mounting at leastone of the transducers in a respective tube having an opening throughwhich the waves are transmitted and received.
 17. The method of claim11, wherein the transducers are electromagnetic transducers.
 18. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the transducers of different frequencytransmit and receive substantially simultaneously.
 19. In combination, avehicle and an arrangement for identifying an object in a passengercompartment of the vehicle, the arrangement comprising: a plurality ofwave-emitting and receiving transducers mounted on the vehicle, eachtransducer being arranged to transmit and receive waves at a differentfrequency, and a processor coupled to said transducers for controllingsaid transducers to simultaneously transmit waves at the differentfrequencies into the passenger compartment and receiving signalsrepresentative of the waves received by said transducers after beingmodified by passing through the passenger compartment, said processorbeing arranged to identify the object based on the signalsrepresentative of the waves received by at least some of saidtransducers.
 20. The arrangement of claim 19, wherein said processor isarranged to determine the position of the object based on the signalsrepresentative of the waves received by at least some of thetransducers.
 21. The arrangement of claim 19, wherein said transducersare ultrasonic transducers.
 22. The arrangement of claim 21, wherein atleast one of said transducers is arranged in a tube having an openingthrough which the waves are transmitted and received.
 23. Thearrangement of claim 19, wherein said transducers are electromagnetictransducers.
 24. A method for determining the position of an object in apassenger compartment of a vehicle, comprising the steps of: mounting aplurality of wave-emitting and receiving transducers on the vehicle,each transducer being arranged to transmit and receive waves at adifferent frequency, controlling the transducers to simultaneouslytransmit waves at the different frequencies into the passengercompartment, and determining the position of the object based on thewaves received by the transducers after being modified by passingthrough the passenger compartment.
 25. The method of claim 24, furthercomprising the step of determining the spacing between the frequenciesof the waves transmitted and received by the transducers to reduce thepossibility of each transducer receiving waves transmitted by anothertransducer.
 26. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step ofidentifying the object based on the waves received by at least some ofthe transducers after being modified by passing through the passengercompartment.
 27. The method of claim 24, wherein the transducers areultrasonic transducers.
 28. The method of claim 27, further comprisingthe step of: electronically reducing motion of a respective vibratingelement of at least one of the transducers to reduce ringing of thetransducer.
 29. The method of claim 27, further comprising the step ofmounting at least one of the transducers in a respective tube having anopening through which the waves are transmitted and received.
 30. Themethod of claim 24, wherein the transducers are electromagnetictransducers.
 31. In combination, a vehicle and an arrangement fordetermining the position of an object in a passenger compartment of thevehicle, the arrangement comprising: a plurality of wave-emitting andreceiving transducers mounted on the vehicle, each transducer beingarranged to transmit and receive waves at a different frequency, and aprocessor coupled to said transducers for controlling said transducersto simultaneously transmit waves at the different frequencies into thepassenger compartment and receiving signals representative of the wavesreceived by said transducers after being modified by passing through thepassenger compartment, said processor being arranged to determine theposition of the object based on the signals representative of the wavesreceived by at least some of the transducers.
 32. The arrangement ofclaim 31, wherein said processor is arranged to identify the objectbased on the signals representative of the waves received by at leastsome of said transducers.
 33. The arrangement of claim 31, wherein saidtransducers are ultrasonic transducers.
 34. The arrangement of claim 31,wherein said transducers are electromagnetic transducers.
 35. A methodfor controlling deployment of an occupant restraint device based on theposition of an object in a passenger compartment of a vehicle,comprising the steps of: mounting a plurality of wave-emitting andreceiving transducers on the vehicle, each transducer being arranged totransmit and receive waves at a different frequency, controlling thetransducers to simultaneously transmit waves at the differentfrequencies into the passenger compartment, determining whether theobject is of a type requiring deployment of the occupant restraintdevice in the event of a crash involving the vehicle based on the wavesreceived by at least some of the transducers after being modified bypassing through the passenger compartment, and if so, determiningwhether the position of the object relative to the occupant restraintdevice would cause injury to the object upon deployment of the occupantrestraint device based on the waves received by at least some of thetransducers.
 36. The method of claim 35, further comprising the step ofidentifying the object based on the waves received by at least some ofthe transducers after being modified by passing through the passengercompartment.
 37. The method of claim 35, wherein the transducers areultrasonic transducers.
 38. The method of claim 37, further comprisingthe step of: electronically reducing motion of a respective vibratingelement of at least one of the transducers to reduce ringing of thetransducer.
 39. The method of claim 37, further comprising the step ofmounting at least one of the transducers in a respective tube having anopening through which the waves are transmitted and received.
 40. Themethod of claim 35, wherein the step of determining whether the objectis of a type requiring deployment of the occupant restraint devicecomprises the step of training a first neural network on signals from atleast some of the transducers representative of waves received by thetransducers when different objects are situated in the passengercompartment.
 41. The method of claim 40, wherein the step of determiningwhether the position of the object relative to the occupant restraintdevice would cause injury to the object upon deployment of the occupantrestraint device comprises the step of training a second neural networkon signals from at least some of the transducers when different objectsin different positions are situated in the passenger compartment. 42.The method of claim 35, wherein the transducers are electromagnetictransducers.
 43. A method for categorizing and determining the positionof an object in a passenger compartment of a vehicle, comprising thesteps of: mounting a plurality of wave-receiving transducers on thevehicle, training a first neural network on signals from at least someof the transducers representative of waves received by the transducerswhen different objects in different positions are situated in thepassenger compartment such that the first neural network provides anoutput signal indicative of the categorization of the object, andtraining a second neural network on signals from at least some of saidtransducers representative of waves received by the transducers whendifferent objects in different positions are situated in the passengercompartment such that the second neural network provides an outputsignal indicative of the position of the object.
 44. The method of claim43, further comprising the step of controlling the transducers totransmit and receive waves each at a different frequency.
 45. The methodof claim 43, further comprising the step of mounting at least one of thetransducers in a respective tube having an opening through which thewaves are transmitted and received.